Ender's Game
by SwordOfFlames
Summary: The secrets of the endermen have been unknown for centuries. Until now. Lisa and her companions will have to unwrap the secrets of the Ender's Game, but will she survive the challenge? Rated T just in case.
1. A New Player

Ender's Game

Chapter One: A New Player

"Agh, my _head_!" I complained, as I rose to a sitting position.

Warily, I looked around. I was on… a beach?

That's odd. I couldn't remember anything.

Everything made perfect right angles around me, but everything seemed vaguely… familiar. I had better see what's happening.

I rose and shook the sand out of my long hair, wondering how long I had been out. I had a pitch black purse around my shoulder, but it was empty. Not my color either. Ew.

I looked around, there was an endless sea full of glittering, green water to my left, and a giant forest everywhere else. Not much variety. Needs purple.

I very distinctly heard voices. Panicking, I ran across the sand, scattering it everywhere and hid behind a birch tree. Yeah, my pale skin fit it perfectly.

_Not._

I saw a guy about my age maybe 14, cursing as he used a shining sword to cut aside vines. Wait, back up. A _sword?_

Using my totally ninja-like skills, I managed to make the sound of an elephant. At least elephants don't have hair to get caught in branches.

I managed to break the twig, but left a few chocolate-brown hairs on it. I hope no one would notice.

Suddenly, he stood up, alert. "Who's there?" he asked. I didn't dare make a sound. That sword looked sharp. Eventually, he went back into the forest.

I carefully stepped out of the trees. Suddenly, I felt stupid. He may have had a sword, but at least I could've known where the heck I was.

I hit my head against the tree in frustration. Suddenly, a big chunk of the tree turned into a small, block of tree.

Carefully, I picked it up. It wasn't very heavy, so I put it in my purse. I slammed my head against a few more trees, and then pondered whether it was worth it, as the other ones zoomed into the purse.

Suddenly, overcome by a sense of nausea, I fell asleep.

~*~*O*~*~

When I woke up, I was in a house. It seemed to be made of finely sanded planks, and shag wooly carpet. I didn't seem to be a prisoner, so I didn't think I was in much trouble.

I noticed the architecture, and it was amazing. It seemed to be a huge wooden mansion! There were bookshelves and tables and even as big glass chandelier with torches in it.

The guy I had seen from the forest clopped down the stairs, holding a tray with two pieces of cooked beef on it. I suddenly realized I was ravenous. That's odd, it seemed like I had only slept for an hour.

As he set the tray down, he asked "So, new here?" as I dug into the steak. It was great.

"Yeah. I woke up on that beach, but I have no idea how I got there" I mumbled through a mouth of beef.

"Everyone does." He started drumming his fingers on the table. "People just end up on that beach with no memories of how they got there, but the rest of us try to take care of them as much as we can."

"What do you mean 'as much as we can'?" I asked

His face suddenly looked worried, and a little ashamed. "People have been going missing. Monsters, creatures who try to kill us and spawn in the dark, have been spawning in bigger numbers. There's only a handful of us left. It's almost a blessing for a new person to end up on the beach." I gaped in horror. Monsters roam around at dark? "Can you fight"? He added.

I gave a shrug. "Well we'll see tonight. In an hour, you're about to witness pandemonium".

"Oh, by the way, my name is Mike. There are four others, Sandra, Oss, Rich, and Tabitha. Most of us call her Tab."

"My name is Lisa" I told him.

He beckoned for me to follow, and he brang me to a stone room with what looked like a furnace, a piece of wood with tools on it, and a shining silver pickaxe.

He showed me the basics of crafting, mining, and smelting. What I thought was really cool was just by placing both hands on anything and concentrating, with a flash of purple light (apparently it was different for everyone) a 2x2 crafting square would appear.

In the side of the mansion, there was a stone shed, or at least that's what I thought. I heard moaning coming from inside, and I looked at the dark, swaying trees. The mansion, along with the rest of the town, was in the middle of the forest, in a closed off clearing. Honestly, I would prefer the woods to this creepy place.

He led me down the stairs in the shed, and we came out in a…prison?

There were zombies and animated skeletons in there, along with 2 HUGE spiders.

Have I mentioned I'm deathly afraid of spiders?

He handed me an iron sword. Unlike him, I was tall and lanky, so I wasn't sure if I was cut out for this. He didn't give me a choice, as he opened the door and 2 zombies came out.

"Relax Lisa!" He shouted, as I looked at them nervously. "If anything happens, I'll help".

The zombies still came, and were about to reach me. Suddenly, a rotten, decaying smell came from them, and I felt angry. I wasn't about to let a rotting hunk of flesh kill me, nor anything else! I kicked the zombie on my left then span around and decapitated the other. With my free hand, I grabbed the last one my the shirt, and stabbed the sword through it's chest. I felt a thrill of adrenaline. I was born to do this!

I looked to Mike, and he nodded appreciatively, saying "You're a natural. We could use you on the battlefield."

I was pumped. From outside, I could hear some far-off groans and clacks.

It was time to kick some butt.

**Protip: Wood is collected by your fists, not your head.**

**(A/N: So anywho, I love minecraft, and I decided to write from a girl's point of view. Please review, I want your opinion!)**


	2. The Enderman

Ender's Game

Chapter 2: The Enderman

Mike and I quickly rushed to the surface, where the four of them were already in combat gear.

"Lisa, this is Sandra Eri" he said, gesturing to a little girl. She must have been eight or nine, with corn-colored hair. She was small and short, but made me feel good just being around her. She gave a wide grin, with two missing teeth. "She's a master at archery, you should have seen what she did at breakfast yesterday…"

"I'm Oss Hamilton!" A big burly man with black hair hefted a large axe. He looked about 27. "Best engineer and lumberjack in Minecraftia!"

Mike rolled his eyes, and said "Rich Remington, this is Lisa." A tall but stout man with curly blonde hair saluted with a bottle. "I'm a chemist, and I have lots of…interesting, potions."

"And last but not least here's Tabitha Green" Mike finished. Tabitha looked about our age, tall with well-muscled arms and wore glasses with string tied around her black hair. "What do you do?" I asked. She gave a smirk and said "I'm a confessed demolitionist and pyromaniac. If that doesn't work…" She brang out a sword twice her size. "A big sword usually does."

I grinned. "Alright!" I shouted. "Are we doing this or what?"

I got a roar of approval. Just that moment, skeletons and zombies must have got our scent and started towards the town.

I smirked evilly. This was going to be good.

I stabbed my sword right through a zombie's chest, then brought it spinning around in a deadly arc.

I hacked and slashed, but zombies and skeletons kept coming, along with quite a bit of spiders. I even saw a few skeletons riding the spiders, at least, until I tore their bones apart.

No matter how long I hacked and slashed, we were being overwhelmed. I risked a glance behind my shoulder, Oss was swinging around a huge axe and once or twice flipping a random lever. One made a legion of dispensers come out of the ground, then shoot this fiery projectile.

Rich had his hands full… of potions, at least. He kept chucking a few reddish bottles which exploded and left searing blisters and cuts on zombies and skeletons.

"Healing potions" he explained, catching up to me. "Does lots of damage to zombies and skeletons, as well as giving us a boost." He tossed on me, and I instantly felt a cool bliss travel across my body, and my cuts were healing up.

I grinned appreciatively and we both cut through the monsters, me swinging and stabbing my sword around like an extension of my arm. I wasn't perfect though, and a large arrow hit my shoulder. It stung badly, and I quickly relieved it of its head.

Sandra was at the top of a tower, firing arrows left and right. She did it so swiftly that it was almost supernatural. Mike was hefting a large sword and spinning it around easily along with Tabitha. Tabitha had an evil grin and was carrying some TNT.

"Fire in the hole!" she cried as she lit it on fire.

_Hisssss…BOOM!_

It exploded with a ground-shaking roar, and left a crater big enough to hold a swimming pool.

By the time sunrise came, we were all tired, hungry, and full of adrenaline.

Seeing I was hurt, Rich poured a few drops of healing potion on it. "We can't spare any more, sorry!" he said. It stung, but not as badly. When I looked at it, it was already reduced to a small cut.

Heading back to the house, Mike remarked "It's weird, that was one of our biggest raids ever. Usually it's only 30 or 50."

I shrugged. "Maybe they just knew I was coming."

Suddenly, a thought struck me. "Hey Mike, what's your last name?"

He tiredly replied "It's Little. I don't use it much since it's completely undermining."

I looked at him, about 5 feet tall and stout. I burst out laughing and he started giving me looks.

I quickly stopped and wiped away the tears. I'd have to abuse that someday.

When we got back, Mike showed me an old house. It had the feel of had been lived in for a while. He looked a little sad as he looked at it.

"This used to belong to our doctor, Chris." He said. "He died in a raid five days ago."

I looked around. A table, chair, and the same smooth wooden plank walls. The difference was it was just big enough to have a bedroom and kitchen, and the floor was cobblestone.

I followed him back outside to a cave entrance, right on the ground. It looked deep but well lit.

"We call these the Gordon Caverns. Some guy name Gordon found them, suffice to say." Mike pointed down the cave "It's well explored, but it's huge. There are like a hundred different tunnels, all branching out. It's hard not to get lost."

He handed me a dull stone pickaxe as I looked at him questionably. "We're low on supplies, we were exerting our materials enough with our weapons as it is." Mike answered for me.

"Anyways, I've got some other things to attend to, so Tabitha will be mining with you. Try not to blow the place up." He joked as he walked away.

A few minutes later, Tabitha walked in, with her hair in a bun and a large stone pickaxe at her side.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you" I asked as we walked down the cave. "Why do you use such large tools?"

She swung the pickaxe back and forth as she answered. "Well I was always strong for my age, so I decided that _bigger_…" She brang it down in a crushing blow on some stone. "Is _better!_ Or at least more intimidating anyways."

As we went farther down, I noticed more tunnels. Eventually, I got sick of it, and told her "Let's just go right."

"Agreed." She said, looking a little bit sick.

She produced a bundle of torches from her toolbelt, waving her hand and having a small bundle zoom into her hand, and grow bigger all the while.

"How do you _do_ that?" I asked in wonder.

She smirked and teased "A little magic."

I gave her a look, and she laughed and confessed. "All right, our bags and stuff do it. When we need things to be transported, it instantly grows to a smaller version of itself. When we bring it out again, it can grow to full-size."

It didn't seem likely, but neither did animated skeletons waving bows and razor-sharp broadheads. That cut still hurt. It may not be deep, but it still hurt.

Seeing the disbelief in my eyes, she said "Try it yourself. Look in your backpack and bring something out."

I brought out the small wood pieces I got from the tree, and a few lumps of coal I picked up in my house. Concentrating, I put both hands on a stone block and with a shining purple light, a 2x2 crafting square appeared. I put my wood inside, making 20 smooth planks like I had seen in the house, and after, 4 sticks. Putting the 4 lumps of coal on top of the torches caused them to meld together with a purple light and become a bundle of torches. The strap holding them together said "16".

We travelled through the cave, every now and then finding some bits of coal. Eventually, we found a stone with greyish-brownish deposits of iron in it. I swung my pickaxe at it and after a few seconds, it broke like ice and turned into a smaller version. Cheerfully picking it up and putting it in my purse, we continued on.

There were iron and coal deposits everywhere, and we labored hard. We decided to go just a little more, and stepped into a big cave.

I stepped on something crunchy, and before realizing my mistake, I fell down the slick gravel slope and into the lava.

In the few seconds before I fell down, I saw what I remembered of my life flashing through my eyes. It was disappointing that it only lasted a second.

In the one after, Tabitha had slid down the slope, grabbed my hand, and dug the pickaxe into the stone for dear life.

"Don't let go!" I screamed

"Wasn't planning to!" she yelled back, obviously ticked. Well who wouldn't be, if you had to dangle over a lake of lava by a pickaxe for someone you had just met?

Slowly, she grabbed the stone with her hand, letting her pickaxe fall, and with a superhuman effort, lifted me up and threw me over. I quickly grabbed her hand and let her up.

"Are you all right?" I said frantically.

It looked like she was having trouble speaking. Then she cuffed me over the head. I deserved it I suppose, but I still had dignity.

"Ow! The heck?"

"_Never_ do that again!"

"Wasn't planning to!"

"Oh, you are so asking for it."

"If I do, would you shut up?"

We continued bickering up the cave tunnel until we were back in the main tunnel, exhausted, and hungry.

"Truce?" I offered.

"Truce" she said tiredly, closing it with a handshake.

We came up to the surface and I went to my house. There was a piece of bread on the table, and a shiny red apple. I devoured both and counted my work.

We had been mining for, say, three hours, and I had accumulated 28 pieces of coal, 32 perfect blocks of iron ore, and about 142 cobblestone blocks. Satisfied, I crashed on the couch and instantly fell asleep.

~*~*O*~*~

For about a week, my life grew to a steady, scheduled one. At sunrise I would get up and go mining till' lunch, after which I would go foraging for materials with Rich and Sandra, and after dinner, I would set up traps with Oss. Mostly he told me what to do, since I was hopeless with redstone. And of course who could forget the nightly raids, which got steadily easier. Most of the time me and Mike could handle it, just slashing through the ranks. By the end of each day, I was tired, dirty, and hungry.

It got boring after a while.

I mean, it was exciting, going off in the forest, surrounded by nature, but I just kept feeling it was _dull_.

I swung my sword through the vines, looking for something interesting. I kept Sandra close to my side; the poor thing had to leave her bow at home.

Armed with only a small dagger, she bravely trudged through the dark forest with me.

After travelling for an hour, I deduced we were completely lost. Then, with a purple light, a scaly, black creature with impossibly long arms and legs appeared, turning his black visage on me, with glowing purple eyes. It gave a warbling sound, and then raised its arms.

I bolted, crashing through the undergrowth in terror. "Sandra _run!_" She looked up, and seeing the…_thing_ behind me, ran.

I could hear more of the warblings behind me. Every few feet we ran, it would teleport closer and closer. I reflected that I had been in two life-or-death situations in a week. This did not improve my mood. When Sandra looked like she was about to fall, I picked her up and carried her piggy-back.

Finally, we reached the camp. Oss and Rich were working on something, but seeing us running and being pursued by that _thing_ they drew their weapons.

Oss yelled "_Enderman!_"

Mike came bursting out of the house and we made a defensive line.

It teleported right in front of me, and, expecting death, I closed my eyes. Feeling nothing, I opened them again.

With another funny-sounding warble, the Enderman left a greenish-bluish orb of some kind of crystal on the ground, then teleported out of sight.

I was confused. I looked around and realized I wasn't the only one. I reached forward and tentatively picked up the pearl. It felt familiar, and warm in my hand. I slipped it into my purse and headed home.

I was greeted by the sight of a furnace full of iron bars. Rearranging it on the workbench like I'd been taught, it flew together to become an iron chestplate and helmet.

I had noticed that the monsters were getting harder to kill. I had to stab them multiple times before they laid down and died.

Being totally girly and having common sense, I washed up in a river nearby. Although ripping up undead and other monsters each night wasn't exactly girly, and having zombie flesh all over you isn't exactly fashionable. Speaking of fashionable, I looked at what I had on. It was a simple turqoise shirt with denim jeans and jacket. Surprisingly, the chestplate and helmet fit right on. I chomped down on a piece of cooked chicken and went outside, for something to do.

Mike greeted me as I walked through the short cobbled street. "Hey, you all right?" I nodded and he continued. "Thank Notch that we didn't die. Those are Endermen, really strong shadow creatures from a realm called the End."

"Who's Notch? And what's the End like?"

"Notch is one of the gods of Minecraftia. He governs over the Aether, a heavenly sky realm where people go when they die, or so I've been told. His counterpart is his brother Herobrine, who rules the Nether, a hellish fire realm full of lava. You have to use portals to go to both, and for the most part, Notch and Herobrine leave you alone." He shuddered. "The End…well, none of us have really been there. The last person who went, it must've been centuries ago. He described a "Sky as black as Endermen, with eternal stars that no-one can see." He came back mortally wounded, with claw marks on his side. He apparently only had time to utter one word, "Dragon…" before he died."

I shuddered too. It seemed like a ghost story, but I could tell he was deadly serious.

"Don't worry about it" he clapped me on the back. "Let's just worry about the monsters in _our_ dimension."

With that, he strode away, taking long steps.

I sighed and headed home. My sword seemed in desperate need of repair. It was dirty and cracked in places, and no longer had its shine. I could even mistake it for a stone sword.

Reflecting on all that had happened today, I grabbed my pick and went down into the mine for a little private thought.

_That enderman…Why did it leave this pearl?_ I thought

_I don't know why it didn't kill me, but I get the feeling it's not gonna be the last. _

_I don't know what this thing _does_ though!_ I swung my pick in frustration.

I noticed I was heading deeper than normal. I had better watch my step. Using my totally elephant like-skill, I slipped and fell into a crevice below me. Luckily it wasn't deep enough to hurt me.

Looking around, I gaped in astonishment.

There were blue stones, sparkling in my torchlight, just waiting to be mined.

Quickly, I brang my iron pick down, hard.

When I was done, I had gotten 6 diamonds, all sparkling and glittering. Satisfied, I slipped it into my purse and climbed out of the crevice.

_SSSSSSSSSSsssssssssssss…_

_BOOM!_

Behind me, a creeper gave its famous "Creep N' Blow" I was blown to the side and cracked my forehead on the stone. Wincing painfully, I got to my feet and looked in my purse. Thankfully there was a piece of steak.

I grabbed it and ate like there was no tomorrow, my head wound slowly regenerating. Sprinting back up the mine, I was eager to share my new diamonds. When I came out into the sunset, I realized that the invasion would start soon. I dashed over to find Mike, who was repairing his sword.

"Hey, where've you be-_woah are those diamonds?"_ he asked in awe.

"Yep!" I grinned proudly.

He grabbed three sticks and turned it into a glimmering diamond pickaxe and sword. He tossed me the sword and the leftover diamond.

"Hey can I borrow this pickaxe?"

"Sure." I answered

Spinning my new sword around, I decided I wouldn't use it unless my other sword wouldn't be effective.

I heard the moans, clicks, and shrieks of zombies, skeletons, and forever-creepy spiders, respectively.

Grabbing my trusty iron sword, I leaped out. I stabbed a zombie a couple of times before it slapped me in the face. That hurt. Needless to say, it only had about a second to live. Skeletons fired arrows all around me before Tabitha set them all on fire.

Sandra was in the backlines, shooting new arrows we had managed to make: these ones had diamond dust from the leftover diamond sprinkled on them. Best, they were always reusable and more powerful and never broke.

I noticed there were more than usual. Then, in the back, I saw a flicker of something black and purple.

"_Enderman!_" I shrieked.

Suddenly lots of those green-blue orbs were being thrown at us, and I dodged them all. I picked a couple up, deciding they might be useful.

I drew out my diamond sword. I would need it.

It cut through the monsters like butter, a creeper tried to blow up on me but I decapitated it.

We were being overwhelmed. A couple arrows came out of their ranks and two of them got me in my right leg.

I groaned and Rich threw me a regeneration potion. I drank it in one gulp, it tasted sweet and spicy.

Rejuvenated, me and Oss hefted our weapons and slashed through them. In fact, if Oss hadn't helped, I'd probably be dead.

We managed to hold our own until sunrise, and everyone was wounded, even Sandra. Rich kept throwing health potions to make sure we were okay and to keep the zombies away.

When I finally got home, I collapsed on the couch. I pulled out one of the Ender orbs. Suddenly, it shocked me, and I crushed it in my fist accidentally. Shocked, I dropped the remains, but they had already dissipated into a purple mist.

I didn't know what had happened, but I was going to find out.

I remembered the Enderman I had seen, how it kept warbling at me.

Was it...trying to talk to me?

**Protip: Healing potions are made with glass bottles, netherwart, and glistering melons. You need one gunpowder to make it throwable!**

**(A/N: Anywho, there's a chapter come and gone. It took me a day so I hope it's not bad :P. I just don't really have the patience to sit around for a couple of days and write it. Also hosting an OC contest, since I'm too lazy to think of one. Just send me a PM with the character's name, physical appearance, personality, clothes, and any other information you deem worthy. Cyall!)**


	3. Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

Ender's Game

Chapter Three: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

I cursed as I stepped on a twig. I had to make absolutely no noise. It was Priority One, the most important mission in the town.

I was hunting a group of cows.

Rolling my eyes at the memory of Mike saying "You'll be a hero!", I jumped out and brought my battered iron sword on its head. Dying quickly, its body poofed away in a white smoke. I grabbed the beef and the same fate befell the others.

It was my ninth day here, and I could feel my girliness ebbing away. Being surrounded by guys and a girl who could beat them all up did not help. For instance, when I found a chicken gut on my table, I cooked and ate it.

Although that might be more animalistic than guyish. I got queasy thinking about it. Granted, it had been a long day and I had taken more blows to the head than I'd like.

Heading home, I went to Oss' practice area. It was essentially a huge field with the occasional crater and filled with prototype redstone traps. I also got queasy thinking about that. Redstone did not suit me.

Today, there was something new. A portal, made of purplish-black (Now that's my color) rock arranged in a rectangle, with a purplish material inside. To sum it up in my words, it looked _awesome_.

Oss was sporting a new axe, along with a full suit of iron armor. He was accompanied by Rich, who was carrying some fiery-orange potions, along with a stone sword. He threw one down, and, contrary to its color, I felt a freezing cold, but it subsided to a chill.

"Fire resistance potions." He explained. "The Nether is very hot, and these will prevent burns. I'll need to get some materials, I'm running out."

Oss gave a grunt. "Less talking, more killing. Let's go."

A man of few words, he jumped into the portal. Shrugging, I jumped in after him.

The world seemed to fluctuate and spin around me as my vision was clouded by purple…

~*~*O*~*~

I landed on something solid, and I quickly started forwards. The trip had only taken a few seconds, but the swirling motion already made me nauseous. When I recovered, I looked up,

My jaw dropped.

The place was a giant cavern, with majestic lava waterfalls and huge seas of burning liquid. Fire lit the place like magic, seeming to burn evermore. The best part was the nether stone, it seemed warm to the touch and gave a radiance that made the whole place glow with heat. I looked a little more, and I saw, far off, a yellow-whitish rock on the ceiling that glowed with a soft light.

Entranced, I didn't notice the pigmen. At least until the things ambushed me.

They brandished golden swords and sported ugly, rotten bodies. The stench from them was even worse than zombies. I drew my sword, but there were too many of them. They were suffocating me, slashing me left and right.

_REET!_

One of them suddenly grew an axe between its eyes. Rich and Oss fought with their weapons and together we just barely managed to drive them away. With one final screech, we were victorious. Rich tossed a healing potion on the ground and cool bliss seeped into my wounds. I had about a dozen little scars all over my arms, which I tried to protect myself with.

Oss said "Don't ever go wandering off. You tend to try to get yourself killed."

It was truer than I could disagree with, so we just went off. After following through a narrow crevice, we came out at a high cliffside over lava. We heard a baby-like noise, and a giant ghost-like jellyfish thing came flying towards us. It puckered its lips and shot a fireball at us.

"Scatter!" I yelled just in time, as we all jumped to the side and it left a crater.

No need to be told, we all bolted down the cliffside and came into another cavern. Here, we could see a lava lake at just our level, and a big fortress of reddish bricks.

"A nether fortress…" Rich said in awe.

Oss grunted in appreciation, and he brought out some blocks and began making a staircase. He would throw the miniature version of the cube toward where he wanted it, and it would instantly grow to full-size and stick.

He kept doing this until we were standing on a large wall of red bricks. I gestured to them and ran off, into a tower-like structure. I looked to my right and had just a glimpse of a cage-like block with flames coming out of it before my vision went to something more important.

A fiery creature, seemingly floating on smoke and having arms spinning around it, focused on me and immediately set itself on fire. Getting the feeling that I wasn't welcome, I brang out my sword, but not before it shot white-hot flame blasts at me.

I managed to dodge some, and immediately got angry. That could've taken my head off! Immediately after, I reflected that that may have been its intention.

I slashed three of its arms off, and then it finally broke. I was suddenly left holding two fragments of a broken sword. Swearing, I turned around and ran, and comically right into Oss.

I bounced off him and flames were shot at us again.

Rich just had time to throw down a fire resistance potion (Our other one had worn off long before) so it merely pushed us back.

I looked at its arms, which still looked like it could do damage. Oss threw me another iron sword and I kept fighting. With a poof of smoke from the cage, 2 more blazes spawned.

We all swore in harmony (We could be a band! Except I'm a _terrible singer_. I know, I tried last week.)

I sidestepped the original flame monster's arms and sliced its head in half. With another white smoke, it died and left a reddish-orangish stick. I quickly picked it up and put it in my backpack. The other two saw that, and fired a flame right at me.

It hit me in my right waist, and agony tore through me. My vision went red with pain, or maybe that was because I was on fire. Either way, it was horrible. Oss and Rich had no time to help, fighting for their own lives as it was. I blacked out.

~*~*O*~*~

"Well hello!" A deep and gravelly voice woke me up.

I seemed to be floating in an endless red plain, neither up nor down, left or right.

In front of me was a man with brown hair, wearing a turquoise shirt like mine and jeans. He also had completely white eyeballs, I mean seriously, no pupils at all. It was kind of creepy, but I had just witness _zombie freaking pigmen_. Honestly, nothing surprised me anymore.

"I am Herobrine." He said in his gravelly tones.

We stood there for a minute or so, and then he raised an eyebrow.

"You aren't a typical Minecrafter, are you? Usually they try to run, screaming in terror."

"But nevermind that." He interrupted himself, continuing, "You were sent here, into a plain of space in my realm because as you may recall, you are currently in a state of near-death."

"Since you have a part in Fate, we cannot allow you to die. But don't push it. We're only going to make this exception once. However, be as it may, you just might die from your injuries anyways."

He created out of nowhere a stick of fiery colors, like the one the flame monster had dropped.

"I trust your friend has told you about the End?"

I nodded.

"It is a terrible place. The minecraftians did a wrongdoing many centuries ago, and since, the End has been ruled by a tyrannical EnderDragon with the powers to destroy a world."

"You must collect six of these Blaze Rods from Blazes, those fiery beasts you were fighting. After that, seek my brother Notch for assistance. And do not forget that the Endermen are sentient too."

It sounded like a warning, a clue. Before I could ask, my vision went dark again, and I blacked out.

~*~*O*~*~

"I think she's waking up."

"Of course she's waking up you moron! When do dead people move?"

"She could be a zombie…"

I heard a solid _SMACK_ and I opened my eyes. Rich was on the ground holding his arm, and Tabitha looked sheepish.

I sat up, and groaned in pain. The wound had closed, but it was blistered and blackened, and it smelled like cooked meat.

That was just _wrong_.

I felt something wierd at the back of my head, and I found out my hair was burned too. I was steaming. I felt like finding those blaze freaks and slapping them upside the head. _Of course_ I thought sardonically _Then my hand would be burned too_.

They all looked worried, like I was about to snap at them. I suppose, given the circumstances, that wouldn't be very out-of-character.

I just grabbed an apple and started eating.

They all took the signal and left, leaving me in peace. Considering now I probably wouldn't be able to walk for a week, it was going to be boring here.

Speaking of "here", I was in a cobblestone house with wool carpet, and beds lining the walls. I guess this was the doctor Chris' hospital place.

My purse was hanging on my bed, so I grabbed it. Inside was a multitude of items, all slowly rotating and in neat little rows. It just occurred to me that I had never found out the secrets of these things, or how they organized themselves. I shook it off. I was already hurting all over my body; I didn't need to in my mind either.

I sighed and hung it back on. Slumping into the covers, I fell asleep, the sounds of zombies awakening all around me.

~*~*O*~*~

After a few days, I could manage to walk, but I had gained a morbid fear of fire. We had two blaze rods, we needed four more.

I decided not to tell them about the Herobrine encounter. They were already freaked out by the Endermen returning. Maybe I was imagining it, but I saw them everywhere, in the shade of the trees, behind houses, or even peering through a window.

I was jittery and nervous when Sandra and Rich came to go foraging with me. We travelled in the opposite direction, and after a few minutes of crashing through vines and tripping over logs, we came out in a jungle.

The trees were massive, going up to half the sky. Pods of something hung on the tallest branches, ripe and big.

Rich started climbing the vines, and plucked a few from the branches.

"Cocoa beans." He explained. You can use them in cookies and dyes, so they're worth having around.

I shrugged and looked through the trees ahead. I could see a vague shape.

Rich started getting some jungle logs with his fist, and I was momentarily surprised.

"Wait…you can get them with your _fists?_"

He looked confused. "Uh…yeah, it's more efficient than kicking it or something."

I felt stupid. I turned away with girly dignity, and went towards the shape.

It became more and more defined, and with Sandra at my side, she identified it.

"It's a jungle temple!" she shouted excitedly, clapping her hands together.

We jumped in, leaving Rich behind us.

Going down the mossy stairs, I was in a dark basement. There was a treasure chest right in front of us!

Before Rich could stop me, I tripped the wire. An arrow fired from a hidden dispenser, and sliced my shoulder, barely missing my neck.

"Oh geez!" I shouted. I made the ultimate mistake: I flailed around.

Arrows kept whizzing past me until it felt like a bizarre dance. Finally it ran out and I had only minimal scratches.

Rich sighed. "When will you stop getting yourself nearly killed?"

Sandra nodded in a wise fashion, and I grinned. I had nearly died again, but I grinned.

In the chest, I found some pieces of lapis lazuli, and a diamond.

"Excellent." I said, tossing it to Sandra. She caught it in her little hands and stared at its radiance.

When going to the stairs, I saw three buttons, side by side. It looked like a puzzle.

I experimentally pressed a button, then got bored and just mined the stone with my pickaxe.

Behind it was another chest, this one containing a golden apple. It glowed with power, and I was tempted to eat it. When I showed it to Rich, he said "It's a golden apple!" When I looked at him like "Duh", he continued "When consumed it gives rapid regeneration, resistance to injuries, and even strength!"

I looked appallingly at the apple. Just one little apple could do that?

I gave an "Oh well" gesture and put it in my purse.

We climbed out of the temple and headed in the direction of home. When we were nearly into the forest, I heard a "Mew!"

A little tuxedo kitty with white paws came up to me, sniffing my purse. I squealed in delight and hugged it to my chest. It gave a protesting "Mrow!" so I let it down. Opening my purse, I saw what it wanted, a piece of fish. I fed it to the cat and it played with it, hitting it into the air and then swallowing it. Then, Rich signaled to me and I said goodbye,

We walked towards the forest, but I heard a _pit-pat_ sound behind

me, and I saw the little kitty from the jungle behind me. It jumped into my arms and I saw it was a girl. I carried it with me as I walked home.

When we finally got home, I put her on the floor and she made herself at home, prowling around and finding a spot on the floor.

I had killed a sheep earlier, so I found a piece of wool and mixed it with one of the lapis pieces from the jungle. It became a blue color so I replaced one of the floor blocks with it.

I made a sign in the crafting table, and walked over to the wool, where she was resting.

I crouched down to her and said "What should your name be…"

I didn't expect a reply. That would've been too weird, even for _my_ life.

I looked at her and thought. After a few minutes, I had settled with one.

"I'm gonna call you Ebony." I decided.

She looked at me for a second, then went back to licking her paw. It was sort of fitting, since she had black fur. That's basically all I can think of. Oh well.

I left Ebony to sleep while I went outside for the raid.

Stepping outside, I noticed there were no monsters, even though the sun was down already. I could hear them, but there were none. Odd.

After an hour, I went back home and left guard duty to Mike. I needed some sleep badly.

I crashed onto my bed and fell asleep to Ebony's little snores.

~*~*O*~*~

"Mew?"

Something was on my face. Something furry.

I woke up instantly, expecting a face, and a startled furry object fell off my face to my lap.

Ebony looked at me through her paws reproachfully and I apologized, and then looked sheepish.

I'm apologizing to my own _cat_.

I've lost it.

Not worrying about my loss of sanity, I started preparing breakfast. I didn't need to feed Ebony, somehow she got out and was now eating a chicken.

I grinned and patted her on the head.

I heard there were dogs in the forest, maybe I would tame one today.

I headed out with Ebony at my side, avoiding the Nether portal. _Not today_, I told myself. Maybe some other time.

I walked down the mine to my usual shaft. Most of the time I mined in a straight tunnel for a while, until I found something interesting. Oddly, in one cave, a creeper started towards me, then Ebony hissed and it bolted. I looked at her, then at the frantically escaping creeper.

I shook my head in wonder, and kept mining.

After a few hours, I had 17 iron ore blocks and 4 diamonds to show for my work. I was glad, one day I found nothing but creepers and headaches.

Walking up the cave, Ebony started mewling so I carried her. She was just a little fluffball of joy, it was hard not to smile. Except when she did her business on the floor. That was not funny.

We came out and I went to Mike's house. When he opened it, he asked "What?"

I made a mock-offended face. "'What?'", is that how you talk to a friend?"

He sighed. "All right, what's up?"

"I've got four diamonds, so I wondered if you and Tabitha wanted diamond swords."

He grinned and said, "I've got a better idea." He took the four diamonds and we stepped into the mansion. He grabbed four obsidian pieces and a book, and put them on the crafting table. In a blue light, they formed a sort of stand with a book on it.

He placed it down and placed both hands on it.

"This is an enchanting table, it takes the invisible essences you get from monsters and gives special effects to tools. It takes all of it when you place both hands, like so, and then shows how much you have."

A big green number 12 came up on the book, and it flipped around to a random page with 2, 4, and 5 on it. There were weird symbols on it that I couldn't read, and I noticed they were actually hovering _around_ the table.

He placed a brand-new iron sword on it, and placed a finger on 5. With a flash of blue light, his sword now had a purplish-blueish aura around it, travelling in waves over the surface. He read an inscription on the hilt and it said:

_Sharpness II _

_Knockback I_

He grinned. "This is a really good low-level enchantment, it means I get two attack boosts and more knockback."

All this enchanting mumbo-jumbo didn't seem very logical, but like most of the things here, I went along with it.

"Oh, and putting bookshelves around it will increase the enchanting capacity."

I put my hands on it and a big green 15 came up on it. I grinned and teased "Who's da master swordsman now?" then I did a crazy little dance, "Or should I say master swords_woman?_"

"Yeah yeah yeah…" he grumbled.

I decided to let him put some more bookshelves before enchanting. While he did that, I went outside and played with Ebony.

She was surprisingly well trained, for a wild little kitty. She seemed to understand what I said most of the time.

I got some spider-string and rolled it up into a ball, using about 20 strands. I threw it to her and she became instantly obsessed with it. She and I played a game where she would hit it with her tail so it landed in my arms, then I would lightly toss it to her and she would catch it in her paws.

After a few minutes, I thought I saw something black, and disturbed, I stopped playing. I tossed her the ball and drew my sword.

It was eerily quiet for a few seconds, and I was scared out of my skin when Mike yelled "HEY LISA, THE BOOKSHELVES ARE DONE!"

Temporarily rattled, I grabbed Ebony and ran towards his house.

Inside, I counted about six bookshelves, all arranged around the table in a square. I lay my diamond sword onto it, and it said 7, 12, 16.

I frowned. That wasn't right. I flipped to another page and got 8, 10, 18

I groaned. Mike nodded sympathetically. "It doesn't always give the number you're looking for."

I flipped two more pages before finally finding a 14. I decided to leave one level for my iron sword. I put my finger on it like he had, and with a purple flash, I got _Smite I, Fire Aspect I_.

I looked towards him. He said excitedly "Fire aspect is a great enchantment! It sets your enemies on fire! And smite is great for fighting the undead."

It sounded like a useful thing to have. I slipped it into my purse and brang out my iron one. Putting it down, I carried the table away from the bookshelves, then flipped to a random page. It said 1, 3, 4.

I put a finger down again, on 1, and with another purple flash I got _Bane of Arthropods I_.

"No one really likes that one." He answered for me in distaste. "It only gives you a boost towards spiders."

I hate spiders, so the sooner I don't have to look at them, the better.

I said goodbye and Ebony and I went to our house.

After eating a light dinner of fish and bread, we headed outside. I saw that Oss and Sandra were getting ready for a nether expedition. I left Ebony inside and rushed over.

"Sandra why are you going to the nether?" I cried.

She looked up imploringly, her big eyes widening. Awh, why did she have to be so darn _cute_.

"Pleaaassee! I'm just as good as all of you and I want to see this place!"

I sighed. Oss grumbled "She begged us all for days. It's like she _wants_ to get herself killed."

Sandra looked at him reproachfully, and gave a big raspberry before running towards the portal.

I accepted a fire resistance potion from Oss and splashed it on all of us, right before Sandra jumped into the portal.

I jumped in after her and prepared for the nausea.

~*~*O*~*~

This time, it wasn't as bad, I was able to recover seconds after coming out. I cringed as I saw all the fire. At least I was fire resistant.

Sandra was already bounding down the slope, looking at all the rocks and sand.

I gestured to Oss and we both followed her, making sure that she didn't get into trouble.

She was very fast, leaping agilely through the tongues of flame. I made sure that I watched my step. Eventually, we came to the nether fortress I nearly died in. I drew my iron sword nervously, and we ran up Oss' staircase.

Inside, the monster cage was still flickering, a trapped blaze in the bars. Sandra quickly strung her bow and brang out a diamond-tipped arrow. Oss readied another axe as we all took combat stances.

It seemed to take an eternity before the clangs and sizzles of the blazes came. Two blazes, each with nasty arms of fiery horror readied themselves with flames.

Sandra shot an arrow directly through one of the blazes heads, killing it instantly. It disappeared and dropped Sandra's arrow, but no rod.

Me and Oss charged the blaze, but it flew aside. It seemed to be taunting us, flying this way or that, readying a flame…

Oss jumped towards it but the blaze went to the side again, leaving Oss to crash into the netherbrick.

_Ouch_… I thought. _This one's definitely tougher._

Sandra nocked an arrow and fired, but the blaze fired back. Arrow and flame met in midair to make a flaming arrow!

It pinned the annoying blaze through the head, but the flame was still coming.

Sandra screamed in terror as I stood there, watching. It tore my heart, but I knew there was nothing I could do.

In my heart though, I screamed _"NO!"_. I threw my iron sword right at the fireball, and it intercepted the fireball, making it explode in midair.

I almost smiled with triumph. Unfortunately, my new, enchanted iron sword flew out the nether fences. Oh well.

Sandra quickly ran to me, putting her arms around my waist.

I murmured reassurance, then, contemplating I wasn't the best at this, I drew my old stone sword. Oss had finally pulled his head out of the netherbrick, and a crack was in it about a foot long, a foot wide.

I picked up the blaze rod dropped by the last one, and counted. Three. I looked apologetically at Oss and Sandra and told them I'd stay here and fight the blazes a little more. Sandra protested, but Oss led her home. I decided I might need a little more _fire_power, so I drew my diamond sword.

Three blazes spawned at that instant, and I grit my teeth. I hated these freaks so much that I managed to stab two of them in quick succession, and the last blaze looked uneasy. I smiled just before I hacked it to pieces. I felt that this way, I could expel all the anger in my chest rather than taking it out on my friends.

I picked up two more. Five.

I kept doing this, for about an hour or so, until the floor around me had burned yellow appendages and I was covered with an itchy powder that slowly burned. I cleaned it off as best as I could, and checked my purse. Ten blaze rods. Not bad.

I ran off to the portal, where I quickly jumped in. The shorter I spent in this roasting hell, the better.

When I came out, I was greeted by Ebony. She came running as soon as I came out, which I thought was a neat trick. I scooped her up into my arms and headed home. I came out and examined the blaze rods. 6, Herobrine said.

Reflecting he didn't tell me exactly_ how_ to contact Notch, I fell asleep with the comfort that I had to go to the nether again. I groaned slightly. If I had been listening, I would have heard the warbles. More and more of them, as the night went on.

And after a while, the call of a dragon.

**Protip: Cats make creepers run away.**

**(A/N: So anywho, another 20 page chapter…you're welcome! This time it took me a little longer, so it might be better, maybe not. Remember the OC contest, just PM! This is SwordOfFlames, signing off!)**


	4. A Whole New World

Ender's Game

Chapter Four: A Whole New World

I yawned and sat up. Sunlight filtered through my makeshift-window, shining into my face. _Mental note_ I thought sleepily _Move the bed_.

A new day of mining, chopping wood, and fiery goodness. Oh joy. I smiled and got dressed. It wasn't a bad existence, really. When you factor in the fact you could have died nineteen times before reaching where you were now, it made you see the world a little differently.

Ebony crawled up to me and mewled for food.

I grinned again. "Alright, breakfast will be ready in a sec."

After a few seconds of furnace heat, it was completely cooked. I tore off a big piece for Ebony and ate the rest.

I checked my purse. As usual, all stacked in neat little rows. I bet my sword if I poured everything out of my purse it would fill the whole house, but like usual, I didn't question it.

I grabbed my _new_ new iron sword (this was getting expensive) and proceeded to the mines. Tabitha would be overseeing one of Oss' "projects" so that he didn't blow anything up without her.

I reached into my purse and brang out my old iron pickaxe. It was the same one I got the first day here. I smiled as the memories came back, of me trying to hide from my would-be best friend.

I quickly ran through the tall grass, tickling my feet. I made a mental note to make another pair of boots. After a minute or so, I arrived at the caves.

Looking down into the lit caverns, I quickly stepped onto the cool stone. It was scratchy under my feet, so I quickly leaped this way and that, avoiding the direct right angles of the rocks.

After a few minutes of leaping past stone, I finally hit my favorite place to mine. It was a little bit above the level you would find lava, but below the max you would find diamonds at.

Swinging my pick, the stone crumbled into tiny pieces, which formed instantly into a block, which zoomed into my purse. I continued the familiar break-check technique, and within five minutes I had a pretty long tunnel.

It was boring, hot work, and the only pleasure I got was ripping my pick into the stone. I found a vein of coal, but after 20 minutes, I only found that. Groaning softly to myself, I proceeded to run back down the passage.

I dashed back up the rocky staircase, cursing at my bad luck. A few lumps of coal and another big chunk of my pick missing. Wonderful.

When I finally emerged in the grassy field, it was midday. I decided that lunch would be great, so I went into the forest to kill things. Drawing my sword, I silently chuckled. How screwed up does your life have to be that saying that you're going to go kill things happens on a daily basis?

Apparently a lot, as I spotted a chicken. In one, swift maneuver, I relieved the chicken of its head. And it's delicious meat. Oh well.

I ran back through the itchy grass to my house, where Ebony was frolicking around, with the string ball I made her. Whenever someone walked by, she performed tricks with it and mewled.

I rolled my eyes and picked her up. "Show off." I muttered.

Ebony looked almost reproachfully at me, and I put it down as my imagination. Didn't want to question the depths of my sanity at this time.

I picked her up, and we started walking home. Just as I reached the door, however, Tabitha came up to me looking excited. That, in itself, was odd enough. Tabitha usually looked pissed, angry, or hungry.

"Lisa…" She said breathlessly "Someone washed up on the beach!"

~*~*O*~*~

We instantly rushed to the beach where I washed up a week or so before. Apparently, this was a big thing, Mike told me.

Upon coming out of the trees, we saw Mike and Sandra talking to a slim, olive-skinned girl on the beach, looking confused. I couldn't blame her. She entered the world seeing a bunch of people in shiny armor acting doctor. In all honesty, I would have just run away.

Luckily she didn't.

She looked about 16ish, wearing a faded grey shirt with black pants. Her hair was jet black and tied in a ponytail, and was gazing at us with clear emerald eyes.

"…And these are our friends, Lisa and Tabitha."

I nodded once when my name was called.

The girl stood up and said "My name is Jada. Could you possibly tell me how I ended up on this beach?"

And so began the speech of Minecraftia, Herobrine and Notch blah blah blah lets go mine blah blah blah. Not particularly interesting to me, because I've heard it three times already.

Mike brought her back to the base, explaining it all as he went. We occasionally helped out, saying things like "Pigs drop pork.", "Sheep drop wool." And "Swords are pointy."

Not that she looked dumb, I just tried to make a sword joke. It didn't work. Now I was the dumb one. Oh well.

I rummaged in my purse and gave her half a stack of wooden planks, an iron sword, and an iron pick, to get her started.

When Mike finished teaching her the basics, I whispered to her "You get logs with your hands. It's a very important fact."

Just to be safe, right?

Jada seemed to be okay with a bow and sword, so she carried both. I was relieved. This would make surviving much easier. Maybe more people would come?

I dismissed the thought. Even if they did, people risking their lives is a big thing.

"Hey Jada!" I shouted across the camp. Jada jogged over, sporting an iron chestplate. "Wanna go mining?"

Jada shrugged, "Sure"

We ran over to the caves, and I jumped right in. Jada held back though.

I looked back. "Whats the matter?"

"Are you sure this is safe?"

"Perfectly safe. Nothing collapses or anything, in fact I'm not sure if that's even possible…"

She seemed to be analyzing the cave, a determined look in her eyes.

"Alright" she grinned, "Just checking".

We ran down the cave, finding a good tunnel that seemed nice and long.

I pulled out a bundle of torches and lit the path, as we dug our pickaxes into the ores we found. It was pretty easy, all I had to do was keep walking, light torches, and mine ores.

All the while we talked. Jada seemed pretty dependable and serious, so that was good. Once when I didn't notice a creeper behind me, she shot it directly into the head, desecrated the corpse, and pulled out a glob of gunpowder.

That was _scary_ yet _comforting_ at the same time. -1 point for my sanity. Yay.

When we finally decided to stop, we were about 500 blocks from where we started.

We looked at each other for a second, me being slightly taller than her (How the crap…?), and we proceeded to run through the passage.

I counted 23 lumps of coal, 8 chunks of iron, 6 redstone pieces, and 5 blocks of gold.

Not bad, I guess. I also counted fifteen enderpearls, from the fight in the camp all those days ago. Seemed like forever. I reflected that even though I'd only been there more than a week, I felt like I'd lived there forever.

We both came up to the cave entrance, and I nearly staggered with horror.

An army of monsters ran up, sabotaging buildings, setting fires, and endermen were _everwhere_.

Oss and Tabitha were fighting for their lives, surrounding the mansion, where the mobs were closing in.

Jada quickly drew her bow, her eyes flitting back and forth, while I charged into action.

"Wait!"

Jada yelled after me, pulling me back.

"Don't rush into battle or you'll die. We need a plan."

"We don't have time!" I yelled, but she was determined.

She narrowed her eyes at the oncoming army, and then smiled.

"Do we have any sand?"

~*~*O*~*~

A couple minutes later, we had at least five blocks of TNT, all carefully taken apart to be put on arrows and lit.

As I lit them, Jada fired them, causing a huge crater in the mob wall.

"Keep going!"

I rolled my eyes at how unorthodox this method was, but it was extremely effective. Unfortunately, we hadn't been invincible. Jada was sporting a large gash on her cheek, and I had taken multiple arrows to my leg. Hot blood was spilling down my right leg, as I tried to bandage it and light TNT at the same time.

"Now!"

I lit, and she fired. Lit and fired. It kept going, but the mobs kept coming, and it wasn't even midnight yet.

I heard a strangled hiss, and Ebony came running towards me, with lots of scratches all around her.

Relieved, I tossed her a piece of chicken, which she happily devoured.

Jada sighed. "It's no use. We gotta go in."

I grinned. "Now _that_ is something I can do."

I somersaulted over a creeper hole, decapitated a few spiders (God they're creepy…) and kicked a creeper in the chest.

I put my iron sword in my bag and brang out my diamond one. I grinned wickedly. This was going to be _awesome_.

As soon as my blade hit a mob, they instantly combusted, and they died much quicker.

Just as soon as I thought we had this in the bag, I heard warbling.

Terror ran through me as no less than 60 endermen came warbling into camp, with their jaws opened extremely wide. One came to me and instantly chomped on my sword. My beloved diamond sword went flying into the woods. My vision reddened with anger, but I started running.

I heard someone yelling "Get to the portal! They can't get in there!"

Thanking Notch or Herobrine or whoever that was that I kept all my things in my purse, I dashed for the portal. I looked around, and I saw everyone but Oss. Fear stabbed through me.

"Oss!"

Everyone looked around, and took up the call.

"Oss!"

"Where are you buddy?"

"Come back Oss!"

To no avail, he didn't appear. I felt a pang of sadness, but I kept running.

The endermen and other monsters were catching up fast, and I had to grab Sandra, who looked like she was about to pass out.

I heard a scream, then silence. Only later I would realize it was Tabitha's.

Ten feet…Five feet…_JUMP!_

I jumped through the portal and instantly saw my vision clouded by purple…

~*~*O*~*~

I felt nauseous as I came out, from the portal or what just happened.

Mike gave a relieved sigh as I came out. He, Sandra, Rich, and Jada were the only ones there.

"Thank Notch…We'd thought you'd died." He breathed.

"Wait…" He said, looking around. "Where's Tabitha and Oss?"

The truth dawned on him. The prospect of death to two of our best friends shook us.

"We…should probably get moving…" Rich quietly replied.

We all nodded as we set off. We were basically stranded in the Nether, and we can't go back to our base.

~*~*O*~*~

It had been five days where we'd been wandering the Nether. All of us sustained burns and we were all extremely sweaty. Luckily Rich had some water bottles, but all his potions were still brewing at his house.

Or what was left of it.

We were walking along a narrow cliffside, making our way across a wall of netherrack, with lava right below us. Joy.

We were rationing our food, so we didn't have to survive on rotten flesh from zombie pigmen. Now that would have been disgusting.

As we tiredly climbed over the next cliff, something caught my eye. It was black and purple, and giving off a purple glow. Excitement ran through me.

"Portal!" I almost screamed, running past everyone towards it.

When we finally reached it, I literally threw myself in, feeling the dizzying purple cloud my vision…

~*~*O*~*~

When we came out of the portal, we were in a city. It was about the size of 150 blocks squared, and had buildings everywhere. There were stone slab roads, glowstone lamps, and even a capital building.

"We're saved!" I breathed.

Suddenly five guards, armed to the teeth in iron, came up to us, leveling swords at our face.

"Or not…" I corrected myself.

"Who are you?" said the one in front. He had a blueish insignia on his chestplate, and he spoke with authority.

We all explained, from the endermen reappearing to the most recent invasion. He nodded as we spoke, and when we were finished, he had a friendly smile on his face.

"Well praise Notch that you all got out of that alive!" He replied, noting all our cuts and burns.

"Here, follow me. We'll take you to the living areas." He offered.

All of us hadn't slept well in the past five days, so we just couldn't refuse. We all clambered off on our burned shoes (Didn't smell too good) and followed him.

"I'm Craig." He spoke, as we ran past alleys and into a cobblestoned street with houses on either side. "I'm the leader of the Guard Force around here. Someone's gotta make sure those dang creepers don't end up in here."

He finally stopped next to a street labeled "Cobblestone Avenue". It was a moment later I realized ALL the streets were labeled that. Yeesh.

He gestured to four houses, each seeming clean and fresh. Since there were five of us, Sandra would be living with me. We both seemed pretty happy about it. At least, since I'm a mind reader and I can read my own mind. Shocking.

We ran to our respective houses, and when I went in, it was very nice. There were wool floors, chairs, beds, even a clean kitchen with a fireplace happily crackling.

Exhausted and needing rest badly, me and Sandra collapsed on the beds, weary to the bone.

"It's been a long day hasn't it?" I whispered to myself, wondering whether Oss and Tabitha made it to the Aether. Definitely not the Nether, from what I heard about after-death folklore. Apparently all the bad people turned into zombie pigmen. That's why I don't feel very remorseful from killing them.

I rolled over and fell asleep, the first feeling of contentment since that raid washing over me…

~*~*O*~*~

The next day, me and Sandra woke up feeling refreshed. I opened my purse and saw just one piece of beef, so I cooked it in the furnace thoughtfully provided in the kitchen, and cut it in half.

I had to use an old stone sword since my diamond one got lost. I was seriously gonna kick some random mob butt for that. It was a good sword.

Apparently from the signs and notices on our front door, the city was called Iron Metropolis. I wonder where the gold and coal were… just kidding. Although that would be weird, if that actually existed.

It was strange, being in a town. They treated gold bars as currency, and we had to abide by all the rules, like "don't randomly kill things when they wander into the road." It's not my fault, that cow was looking at me funny. I swear!

Living on our own, we were really filthy and everyone else seemed so…clean.

It was a great place and don't get me wrong, I loved it but…something just felt missing. I would always miss hunting in the forest rather than just going to the market place, and exploring the woods rather than walking on the assigned roads.

Still, that man Craig had done us a favor. I had to be nice.

I discovered there was a library, and I literally dragged Mike over there.

"What are we looking for?" Mike yelled from another shelf, where he was balanced precariously on a ladder.

"SHH!" hushed the majority of the library. Geez.

I ran over to him and whispered "Something on the Aether. Don't ask why."

After a few minutes of searching, reading, and falling hilariously off ladders (He, it was funny!), we finally found a book.

It was labeled "Dimension Doors: The key to dimension jumping."

It was dusty and looked like no one bothered to touch it for a few years. I blew most of it off and opened it. A table of contents told me the Aether was on page 47.

I turned to page 47 and started to read.

"Out of all dimensions, Aether could be considered the most beautiful… or the most deadly. The Aether is a series of Skylands much above the clouds, accessible by a portal of glowing rock and water. Many creatures live here, such as the famous Moa, giant birds of the Aether, Swets, giant slimes of the Aether, or the more infamous Cockatrice, a Moa that expels poison darts.

The Aether's majesty must not fool you, terrible cube guardians and all-powerful Sun Spirits are contained in dungeons, with amazing treasures to be guarded.

The people of the Aether are Valkyries, winged people with prodigious combat skills, who dwell in many floating temples, guarding the Valkyrie Queen. Indeed, the Valkyries cannot be killed, for they are the "dead" spirits of the departed from the Overworld who are deemed worthy by the holy Notch and Herobrine.

Notch resides in the Aether, just as his counterpart Herobrine lives in the Nether. He however, is almost impossible to find, and it is said when the time is right shall appear, and only then."

I closed the book when I finished the page. So Notch lives in the Aether, and to get there it sounds like I need to make a glowstone portal, and use water too. It sounded very nice, but the mobs sounded dangerous. I found out that it had info on all the dimensions, so I checked it out.

I checked my purse, and discovered I had enough glowstone dust to make a portal frame. Thank Notch, I've had enough of the nether to last me a lifetime.

When Mike and I got to my house, I started building. 5x4, and at last a water bucket in the middle…

I heard the eerie portal sounds, and in the middle of the frame a blueish material was pulsating, and I could hear music coming out of it.

I gestured to Mike, but he stood his ground.

"Why are we going here?"

I realized it was hopeless to keep hiding it. Sighing, I told him about Herobrine and having to meet Notch.

He looked amazed, and when I was done, he said "Well we can't go alone! We have to go, all of us!"

I shook my head before he finished the sentence. "It's too dangerous. I won't have anybody else dying."

He thought for a moment, but then said "At least bring Jada. She could be useful."

I nodded, grinning. With just the three of us, we could do it fast and we could stand more of a chance.

"Alright."

A few minutes later, Jada was strapped in her armor and swinging an iron sword. I had fashioned myself a new iron one and told Ebony to stay there.

"Everyone ready?"

They both nodded, as we jumped into the swirling blue…

~*~*O*~*~

If the Nether took my breath away, the Aether positively choked me. We were on a floating island of bright green grass, surrounded by unfamiliar blocks. There were clouds, but they seemed more solid, and there were dozens of huge floating islands all around us, with different trees. A few rabbits (How did I know what those were…) were jumping around, puffing every few seconds to stay afloat.

Big sheep with symbols on their wool bounced around, and after consulting the book, I figured out they were called "Sheepuffs".

Majestic floating whales and giant birds roamed the sky, Aerwhales and Moas I presumed. The whole place was lit by an unusually bright sun, which seemed to be moving much slower than usual.

Overcome with excitement, I grabbed my axe and started chopping a tree. To my despair, it seemed to mine harder than a fist and stone. I tried again, and it still didn't work.

I consulted the book, and it said…

"Tools from the Overworld will not work in the Aether, for it is a dimension of its own, and bringing tools from there is unadvised. You must fashion tools from Skyroot, Holystone, Zanite Ore, Gravitite Ore, and find many others in the dungeons of the Aether."

Oh. Now I felt stupid.

I chopped the tree with my bare hands, finding it _much_ faster, and fashioned myself a crafting bench. Rearranging the "Skyroot Planks" like regular ones, I made sticks and a Skyroot Pickaxe.

Pleased with myself, I started to mine. If what the book said was true, our tools wouldn't be effective, and I'd bet our weapons wouldn't either. We would need to mine some better tools, then go explore.

I chuckled as an Aerwhale bumped into the island, then had an idea.

I jumped onto the Aerwhale, expecting to be able to ride it, but I slid off like it was a greased pig. Luckily, it was still over the island.

"Oof!" I grunted.

Mike and Jada came over, looking worried, but I waved them off. All a part of the fun, right?

I noticed one of those Moas near me, it was white. I crept toward it, bringing out my sword. Maybe Moa was tasty. But to no avail, because the Moa noticed me and flew off in fright. It left one thing though, a white and grey dotted egg. Thinking that would make a good breakfast, I put it in my purse.

I checked my purse. I brang only essentials: stacks of torches, lots of blocks, my now-useless tools, some food, and so on.

I punched the grass, noticing it broke a lot faster than in the Overworld. I started a mine, using my Skyroot Pickaxe to break open the new stone. I consulted the book again and found out it was the Holystone they mentioned. With it, I fashioned myself a new pickaxe. We were well on our way.

I made a few for Mike and Jada, and tossed it to them. We all started mining, swinging and slashing. Eventually I found an ore with a purplish material inside. Excited, I quickly dug my pick in, and it dropped a purple jewel, cut and shining already. It was Zanite, the next tier of materials. I was very pleased.

There were two more in there, so I made a Zanite pick. However, I kept using the Holystone one. Much better to conserve.

We kept doing this for two hours or so, and every so often we would reach the edge of the island and nearly fall off. It was pretty scary when that happened.

Mike found 7 more Zanite jewels, and Jada found 4. I only found those three I got, but I still thought we did really good.

Oddly, even though we came here at about midmorning, the sun looked like we had only been here thirty minutes. The Aether was weird, but it _was_ another dimension. Can't be picky.

"Hey let's head back." I spoke as we came out of the mine.

Mike and Jada nodded, exhausted, as we clambered back through the portal.

I decided that the Aether was pretty cool, and with a new feeling of contentment in our new home, I prepared lunch.

I smiled as Ebony pawed my legs. The Iron Metropolis seemed pretty peaceful.

At least, I hoped so.

**Protip: The Aether makes all Overworld tools pretty much useless. Skyroot, Holystone, Zanite, and Gravitite are the Aether equivalents of wood, stone, iron, and diamonds, respectively.**

**(A/N: I am so sorry for whatever fans I may or may not have :P.**

**School is driving me crazy, and procrastination won over writing. Meh. Anywho please review, and still accepting OCs. By the way, I promise that I will try to get this in sooner! Cyall!)**


	5. An Old Friend

Ender's Game

Chapter Five: An Old Friend

Honestly, the Aether wasn't that bad. Looking back on it, yes, it was as deadly as the Overworld, if not more, but sometimes you just can appreciate its deadly beauty.

Now, when it's a poison dart coming at you 60 miles an hour, _then_ you start to be unappreciative.

I swore loudly as the dart pierced my flesh, staining my vision purple and causing my legs to move of their own accord.

"_Stupid effing bird!_" I yelled, losing control of my motor skills and nearly falling off the cliff. Rich saved me by dashing forward and steadying me. Since none of us had any intention of going back to the nether, he had no potions and had taken up multiple hobbies… one of which was being a "ninja" apparently.

"Ninja save!" He yelled. One of his other hobbies was yelling "Ninja!" in front of everything. _Constantly_.

"Alright… thanks." I grumbled when my vision cleared and my legs steadied again.

All five of us were here, strapped in armor and wielding our respective weapons. Rich had managed to fashion a "kunai", a sort of knife with a circle on the end. I dunno, I wasn't the ninja fanatic.

He was clothed in dyed leather armor, which was a recent discovery, completely black. It made him stick out like a sore thumb against the greenish turquoise grass, but he insisted it was camouflage.

"Hey, over here!" Jada yelled from across the island.

We had managed to hop from island to island using only parachutes and blue aercloud: letting us float in midair and jump to insane heights, respectively.

We all stumbled across the island to where Jada was pointing, a stone brickish tunnel built directly into the wall, with moss covering it.

"Ninja jump!" Rich yelled as he hung onto the edge and let go, making a front flip onto the stone.

Mike rolled his eyes. "Show off…" he muttered.

I decided not to be outclassed, so I drew my sword, stuck it into the ceiling, grabbed it, and swung forward, grabbing the sword and finally stabbing it into the ground with a loud crunch.

I grinned at Rich, saying "Beat that!".

Rich just looked away, mock sniffing at me. Rich, Jada, and Sandra all made their way down, the latter requiring a parachute.

It was a creepy tunnel which branched into a big room, with a pedestal in the middle with a chest. I eagerly ran forward and delved into the chest. It had a Zanite pickaxe, a poison bucket, and a dart shooter, along with 10 enchanted darts.

I examined the dart shooters. "Well that's new…" I muttered to myself. I quickly fit a dart into it and blew, making it go all the way across the hall, gravity seemingly not affecting it, before landing with a smack on the end, which was too dark to see.

"Come on, I don't want to waste it." I called, running forward.

I heard a distinct "Ninja sneak!" and rolled my eyes. Placing a ambrosium torch down, I screamed.

In front of me was a giant cube with a horrid blue eye on it, open and staring at me, as it quickly charged to me.

Being the elephant I am, it hit me and sent me flying.

"Oof…" I grunted, as I hit the floor.

I looked to see what I had done to aggravate it, and I saw my answer, a red dart stuck to its forehead. Mike and the others quickly filled the room, taking defensive stances.

"Guys cover me while I look it up!" I yelled.

I opened the book quickly and scanned it. There was a picture of the exact same thing, labeled "The Slider".

_The Slider is a powerful foe residing in Bronze Dungeons. He fiercely guards the treasures sealed below its pedestal, locked until you defeat it and retrieve the Bronze Key. The Slider will slide towards you relentlessly, always pursuing you. If you are hit, you will be launched backwards painfully, and the Slider shows no remorse or mercy. It will keep sliding until it is defeated._

_Sliders are not like normal foes, for they are made up of stone themselves, and as such, normal weapons will not work. Tools such as axes and picks shall damage it, but you must be in a close vicinity. Beware when fighting The Slider._

I looked up, and yelled "Guys! Use your tools!"

They all brought out their assorted tools, axes, shovels, and one pickaxe.

I brought out the Zanite pickaxe I had just acquired and charged it. We all charged at once, most of us getting bumped into the wall, but me and Sandra managed to hit it. It started prioritizing on me, and slid quickly.

I managed to run out of the way, taking a big chunk of it with me. Then, it glowed. It's eye glowed red and it became even faster. It hit me with the force of a minecart and I sailed through the air, cracking my head on the wall.

"Eugh…" I moaned, as the others quickly came to my aid. Jada handed me a Healing Stone and I quickly crushed it in my fist, making my various cuts and bruises heal. My head was still sore, and I staggered to my feet.

We all charged at once, as it gave us one last menacing glare.

_CLICK!_

With a sound like a opening lock, the pedestal it stood on broke, revealing a special chest underneath. I saw that a bronze key had dropped from the Slider, and I quickly grabbed it and put it in the lock.

With a reverent silence, I poured out our treasures.

There was a Book of Lore, which looked like it told us about the Overworld, although I was pretty sure I knew it all already. Next to it was a neat stack of 16 blueish knives, both crackling with energy, Excited, I threw it to the wall, and as soon as it connected, a bolt of lightning tore open the roof and hit the wall.

"Sweet! Dibs!" Rich yelled. We all cracked smiles and let him have them.

The next item was a purplish hammer, with a green jewel in the center. I gave it to Mike, who looked like he could use a brute force weapon, and he gave an experimental swing. With a _fwoosh_ sound, a hammer head resembling the one on the hammer rushed through the air and hit the wall, giving a big shockwave.

I smiled. It looked like we had some decent weapons, as long as Rich didn't lose them…

We headed outside, where we were in for a shock. A herd of 8 phygs were oinking directly on top of the temple, seemingly unaffected by the smoking crater in the roof where the lightning hit.

Mike groaned. "We don't have any saddles…" he whined.

"Oh quit whining." Jada said good-naturedly as she examined them.

A plan started to formulate in my brain.

"Do you guys have any leather and string?"

~*~*O*~*~

A few minutes later, we all had five makeshift saddles hastily constructed from string and leather. They were uncomfortable, but at least we could ride.

I kicked it and instantly it jumped high into the air, gliding on the wind.

"Woohoo!" I heard Rich yell. "Pig Cowboy Team!"

We flew for an hour or so, having to stop and land every time they beat their wings. Eventually, we came to a massive temple.

It was constructed of beautifully carved stone, with giant pillars holding up the roof. Tendrils of curved clouds circled all around it like a massive tentacle, and I could see an entrance in the side.

"Hey!" I shouted over the wind. "To that temple thing!"

It took a few minutes of coaxing our phygs to make it up there, before we were all there. Sandra spent a few more minutes crying over leaving her phyg, whom she had named Sparkle. I had named him Bacon.

We all entered the temple, which was dark and hallowed, seemingly ancient and sacred. At least, 'till we saw the chests. Then all of us lunged forward for the loot. Who cares about sacred stuff? I want _treasure_.

When we tried to open it, it opened and we saw it had an eyeball and fangs on it. It tried to chomp us and started walking (Where did it get those feet…?) towards us, opening and closing its terrible jaw. Sandra quickly strung her bow and put and arrow right through its eye, making it turn into a miniature chest.

"Freaky…" Jada breathed.

I picked up the chest, just in case I needed it. Sadly, no loot was dropped. We proceeded to the other room, but as soon as we set foot into it there was a _CRACK_ sound and a warrior appeared out of nowhere.

It looked like a man with snowy white hair, a huge sword, and two small angelic wings. He walked around before seeing us.

"Adventurers?" He questioned in a light voice.

We all nodded.

"Well then I assume you want to challenge me."

Seeing our clueless faces, he shook his head and sighed. "Rookies…" he muttered.

"Okay, I am a Valkyrie, guardian of this Silver Dungeon. To fight our leader, the Valkyrie Queen, you must defeat ten of us in battle."

Seeing our shocked faces, he laughed good-naturedly. "Don't worry. We can't die, and we usually try not to kill. It's just a matter of your power. All fights are 1v1, to be fair."

Seemed reasonable. The Queen wouldn't want to fight weaker enemies, because she would probably kill them.

"One question…" I asked. "How did you get here?"

"Oh that's easy." He answered. "I was an adventurer when I died, so my spirit, as a warrior, let me come to the Aether and test the skill of adventurers that would come here. I became a Valkyrie."

"What happens to other Valkyries who aren't warriors?"

"I presume they go to the many colonies of good people who have died, just living regularly with Notch. I haven't met him personally though."

"Enough talk. Are you ready?" He asked me.

I smirked. "Ready for anything."

"Start!" His voice cracked through the air like a whip, no longer light and soft, instead harsh and grating. He flew through the air right at me, his massive blade poised in a stabbing position.

I quickly did a backflip and braced my sword against his, blocking him from raising it. He overpowered me and flipping me over as I landed on my back. I got up on my feet quickly and slashed at him. He nimbly dodged.

It was tough. Up to this point I had only faced mindless foes, beasts that lived to kill. This was completely different. I was facing a foe who could strategize a plan to defeat me in a second, and I wasn't used to that.

I tried to get an undercut, but he parried it easily. His massive blade was blunted so it wouldn't kill easily, but it wasn't very heavy to him. He swung it around like it was made of paper, as I ducked to avoid a harsh blow. The only thing keeping me going was sheer adrenaline, I wasn't used to dodging and running, usually I stood and fought. Again, I'm an elephant in human form.

Eventually I received a harsh blow to my leg, momentarily staggering me. My jagged Zanite sword was ineffective, being much shorter and less powerful.

I formulated a plan. It was risky, but just might work. I charged at him, and at the last second brought out my sharp Zanite pick and threw it into his foot.

The response was immediate. He hunched over and yelled "Ow!" as I brang my sword in a vicious arc down on his back.

In an instant he was gone, a golden medal on the ground. I heard a ghost of his voice saying "You have bested me. Good job and good luck. Watch out for the queen. She's a feisty one." I heard what sounded like him chuckling after that.

Satisfied at my win, I picked up the golden, glimmering medal. Then I remembered he said we needed ten and my heart sunk…

One Valkyrie had been bad enough…

I put it in my bag and we continued on, going through the multiple rooms. Some had nothing, others had Mimics, but one of them had another Dart Shooter which Rich happily accepted as well as a number of Golden Darts. Looked like the Dart Shooter is the main ranged weapon here.

Eventually after poking around even more, we heard the telltale _CRACK_ and a Valkyrie almost identical to the other one except for facial features appeared. Mike started forward, eager to test his new hammer.

"Begin!" The Valkyrie yelled.

As Mike charged forward with his giant hammer raised, I looked in the book, shuffling around. I figured out that his hammer was called the Hammer of Notch and was said to have been blessed by Notch himself.

I chuckled. Mike would have no problem.

Mike quickly raised it, but instead of shooting, he brought it down in a violent smash, cracking the Valkyrie's massive sword. When the Valkyrie attempted to bring it back up, he fired two quick hammerheads, both striking him in the arms. With a final puff, he was gone, with a new golden necklace in his place.

Satisfied, I grabbed it and gestured to the others, who were congratulating Mike on his victory.

I sighed. This might take a while.

~*~*O*~*~

Two hours later, we were all bone tired, except for Sandra. She couldn't fight because they were melee and she was just ranged. Rich had managed to get in a lot of sweet knife throwing and completely trashed his Valkyrie, while Jada somersaulted and gracefully rolled around, stabbing her opponent in the back.

I counted our medals, and smiled. We _finally_ had ten. One of the Valkyries we fought told us the Queen's room was hidden in a staircase. We senselessly wandered around, looking for a special staircase.

After five minutes, Jada declared "This is stupid."

All of us weakly agreed, already tired from fighting the Valkyries. With a loud groan, I sank into a sitting position. This was going to take forever!

Twenty seconds later, we found the staircase. I gave a facepalm.

All of us cautiously descended the spiral staircase, going down two floors to a doorway. Taking a deep breath, I entered.

It was beautiful in a heavenly, golden sort of way. There were two water pools on the sides, with two golden trees with literal chunks of gold in them. A throne sat at the far end, bigger than all of us. Soft lights illuminated the rooms, as the leaves on the trees sparkled in the ambrosium light.

I heard a voice chuckle behind me. A very familiar voice.

"Thought you guys would be here soon enough…How's it going?"

I turned around to see Tabitha, confident as ever.

Being the _tough_ and _manly_ person I am, I squealed in delight and hugged her. "How did you get here?" I squeaked.

Tabitha laughed. I saw she was clothed in elaborate armor and had two feathery wings at her back. She wielded a huge golden sword, looking much stronger than the regular ones on the Overworld.

"I died." She put simply. "I came to the Aether as a Valkyrie, and they chose me to be the Valkyrie Queen. But don't think I'll go easy on you."

We all laughed. "What about Oss?" Sandra asked.

Tabitha's face fell. "I haven't heard anything about him."

We all looked depressed for a moment, then we remembered who was standing in front of us. Tabitha readjusted her gauntlets, asking "Alright. Who's up?"  
I stepped forward, my eyes sparkling dangerously. Tabitha smiled as she said "Well you certainly look like you've gotten stronger. On the other hand…" She swung her sword around in a circle. "So have I."

I smirked. "Bring it on! Mike toss me your Hammer."

Mike obliged, and I hefted it easily.

"Ready?" I nodded tauntingly. "Go!"

And we charged at each other.

I quickly swung the huge hammer at her, but again, like _all_ Valkyries, she dodged. Not only was she strong, she was much quicker. I'd need to give it my all to win.

I feinted, and shot a hammerhead where she dodged to. She quickly flew up, bringing her sword in a deadly arc.

I braced the Hammer of Notch just in time, as I felt an enormous force hit the hammer. I grunted under the force. She was so strong!

Swinging the hammer around, I shot a hammerhead right at the wall, she dodged it, but the shockwave sent her reeling as she steadied herself.

She chuckled "Not bad. But now it's my turn!"

She flew at me quicker than anything. Knowing the hammer wouldn't be quick enough, I switched out to my trusty Zanite sword, as we engaged in combat.

_CLANG!_

_CRASH!_

Our swords were like tongues of steel, flicking in and out in instant, as my mind quickly went into overdrive. I thrusted and she blocked, as she stabbed and I parried. We kept doing this until I saw her tiring. The bad thing was, so was I.

In a desperate gambit, I threw my sword, then quickly shot a hammerhead.

Success! The hammerhead hit her, sending her all the way to the corner of the roof, where I kept hitting her and hitting her with the hammer projectiles.

Then, she instantly disappeared, the remaining hammerheads poofing into the wall. I looked around, alarmed. She must have used her teleporting skills on me, rookie mistake Lisa!

Just as I pulled my sword out of the ground, she materialized.

What she didn't know was I was expecting it.

Two lightning knives went straight into her, lightning striking with an earsplitting _BOOM!_

She slowly descended, a proud smile on her face.

"Great job Lisa." She congratulated, handing me a silver key. Another pit opened, with a chest underneath. Seeing all of us dash for the treasure, she laughed.

"You earned it. Before you ask…" Seeing the looks on our faces, she continued. "No, I cannot come with you." A wistful look came into her eye.

"I'm not an adventurer anymore. My duty is to stay here, just as Lisa's duty to…" She looked alarmed. "Well you'll find out later."

"Tabitha, they know already." She looked relieved.

"Oh…then…okay." She said lamely.

Mike covered for her by yelling "_TREASURE!_" as we all hurried to the chest. I quickly unlocked it and examined the contents. A bounty of items!

One was a bluish sword, crackling with energy. The other was completely orange, and felt warm to the touch. I'd bet ten gold ingots that it was lightning and fire. Cliché much?

There was an orange bow, made of a special looking material. I handed it to Sandra who quickly fit an arrow in, and fired.

It whizzed past with a sizzling sound and when it hit, we noticed it was completely on fire. Like, inferno flame. This was no simple fire.

Rich whistled as we delved again. The last item was a blue colored cape, made of a silvery material that just slid through our hands.

"_Cool!"_ I heard Rich yell as he dove for it, putting it on.

"Rich that's not gonna do any…" My laughing stopped as he disappeared.

"What the…?" Mike said in confusion.

"What?" Rich asked, equally confused.

"You're…invisible…" I stammered.

"What?" He asked in disbelief. "Woah! No way! Awesome!"

"Just take the cape off" Jada said, laughing.

He finally took it off and placed it in his bag. "Ninja secrets…" he whispered. I rolled my eyes.

I chose the blue sword, and when I slashing it, sure enough, lightning struck in front of me. It seemed to know where I wanted it to hit…

Not wanting to waste it, I placed it back in my purse, satisfied.

After a teary farewell to Tabitha, we all exited the dungeon and set on our way. Our five pigs were all scrambling around the outside, oinking and randomly moving.

"_SPARKLE!_" Sandra yelled, running over to her frantic pig, overwhelmed by the noises.

"How can you tell…?" I wondered out loud, for all five pigs looked almost exactly the same.

"Me and Sparkle have a special link." She grinned like an angel until I saw a colorfully drawn name SPARKLE on the pig's head.

"Wait… how did you…" Deciding not to question it, I hopped on my pig. "Shut up…" I mumbled to Jada, looking like she was suppressing a laugh.

We saddled up, and with a kick, our phygs soared back through the sky. I closed my eyes, reveling in the cool breeze. Then I heard a _very_ loud profanity.

"Freaking _zephyrs_!" Rich yelled, throwing a random block at the mob. It easily missed, the zephyr lazily gliding, shooting random snowballs. I rolled my eyes at him for like the millionth time.

Sandra expertly sniped it with her new bow, as we glided through the air.

I admit, it _was_ fun gliding through the air like a hawk, but I'm still hungry. There is always room for bacon in your life. What kind of a life would that be, anywho?

As we came to a stop on an island, we saw a strange plant, with blue petals and stems in the middle. I came closer to take a look. It was pretty, and the petals seemed to move arou-_yeowch!_

When I came closer to take a look, the thing shot a dart at me, and my vision clouded purple again, as I groaned. As usual, I lost control of my motor skills as I was sent sprawling around, crashing drunkenly into the mountainside. After a minute or so of torture (and snickering) it wore off, and I swung my crackling blade at the plant-devil.

Lightning shook the sky as it struck down on the evil plant, killing it and dropping random petals. I examined the purplish petals, and deciding they would be useful, I put them in my purse.

"That was funny you know." A voice came from behind me. I turned around and had a heart attack when I saw no one.

"_RICH!_" I yelled as he unveiled himself, grinning proudly. Steamed, I mock-threatened him, taking a step forward, before he vanished.

I blinked. "Wow…that's fast."

"I know right?" Came a voice to my right.

Acting quickly, I elbowed the direction and sure enough, found something solid. I seized his cloak and he was on the ground, looking reproachful.

"You gave yourself away." I chided. Abashed, he took his cloak back, as we headed across the island. If my memory served me right, the portal would be right over the hills.

I was right. The comforting, soft glowstone light shined all around it, as we dived in. My vision clouded blue as I headed for home…

~*~*O*~*~

Strangely, we came out outside the city limits. The huge walls of the Iron Metropolis were about 50 blocks away. A half-moon shined above us, as we looked at the stars.

"Wait…" Gears clicked into place. "We're outside city limits! We can _hunt_ and _kill_ and _pee in bushes_!

"TMI, Lisa." Jada said, plugging her nose. We both laughed.

I took a good look around. The Iron Metropolis was in the middle of a massive plain biome, with grass galore and no trees in sight. I saw a couple cave openings.

"Well…" Mike started, grinning broadly. "Looks like we found something to kill."

A small force of zombies and spiders were coming towards us, hungry for blood. I brought out an iron sword (Having trouble keeping track now…) and hefted it on my shoulder. This would be fun.

Oddly, Rich brought out his thunder knives. "Aether weapons don't work here, remember?"

Rich just grinned broadly. "They might not be good for fighting with…" he said as he threw one at a nearby zombie. "But I doubt they like lightning very much!"

A colossal boom came as a bolt of lightning struck the entire squad, as they all died.

"Hey!" Mike whined. "Leave some for me!"

Rich ran forward to retrieve his knife as I spotted a group of skeletons.

"Skeletons at five o' clock!" I shouted.

"What does that mean?" Sandra wondered aloud.

I paused, and awkwardly said "I…don't know…"

"Oh well. Killing time!"

We all ran towards the skeletons as they shot arrows at us. You might be thinking, why are you throwing yourself at skeletons, knowing that they can shoot you and arrows hurt?

Let me tell you why. Fighting is a very _complex_ art. Not.

It's just fun. There's something about swinging a heavy sword and smashing your enemies into a pulp that makes it addicting. Call me a druggie. I don't care. I am drunk on the blood of my enemies.

I killed about five skeletons, and was heading for my sixth. Fun.

I shouted a large profanity as, once again, an arrow colliding with my arm, leaving a deep gash.

I grabbed one of the skeleton's bones with my other arm (my sword having fallen to the ground) and smacked him with it. The skeleton just looked at me like "WTF?"

I grinned at him. "Now now mister skellie…you're about to learn what I do with troublemakers…" I started pounding the skeleton mercilessly with its own bone.

With a satisfying poof, the skeleton was gone, and left an arrow in it's place.

I snatched up the arrow and downed a loaf of bread, as my wound started healing itself. Food is magical. 'Nuff said.

"Well I think we should head in now." Rich suggested, all of us wild from killing.

"Yeah." I agreed, as we started towards the Iron Metropolis.

And suddenly I wasn't there anymore.

Standing in front of me was a bald man with a black beard, wearing a torn brown shirt and grey pants. We stood there for a minute or so, before he remarked "You're not a normal minecrafter are you? Most of them-"

"I know I know. " I cut him off. "You're Notch. Herobrine told me to find you. He said I was supposed to find you after collecting six blaze rods." I brought them out of my pack.

Notch momentarily looked surprised. "So you're the person we've been looking for…" That didn't sound good. "Alright. Here are your instructions."

"As you might already know, there is a dimension known as the End. It is a terrible place, where there are no stars, and the only land is a chunk of rock known as Endstone. The Endermen reside there, for a wrongdoing on both parts, of the Minecrafters and Endermen. They were trapped."

"The greatest Minecrafter Sages trapped them in that world, chained forever to that hunk of rock. Some may make it out, but largely they all stay there. However… that might not be a good thing."

"The Enderdragon appeared, created out of hate and darkness from the Endermen. It is a physical creation of the centuries of hatred the Endermen feel towards the Minecrafters, and rightly so."

He sighed, rubbing his beard. "I created the Endermen as equals to the Minecrafters. They could wield ancient magicks, and they were just an intelligent and strong as the Minecrafters, at the loss of some abilities. They were supposed to coexist!"

He was practically shouting now, looking aggravated. "The Endermen showed the Minecrafters their magic, teaching them. Only a select few could wield it, with devastating power."

"The Minecrafters, seeing this immense strength, grew the negative emotions of man. Jealousy. Hatred. Anger. They believed the Endermen would rule them. It wasn't all the Minecrafters fault though, the Endermen were nomads, travelling all over. They made a bad name for themselves, and were very hostile to Minecrafters. Often they would attack villages for the sake of doing it. It was only a select few who were friendly."

"So the Minecrafter Sages banished them to that half-world, where they believed they would be safe. They doomed their descendants. The Endermen are slowly weakening the barrier. The Enderdragon will soon be able to break free."  
He looked directly at me, a mixture of pity and sadness on his face. "The Enderdragon must be defeated in his own realm. You were chosen, brought to this world by the very fabric of the universe. You will make a choice, whether for best or for worse, we will not know."

I choked, getting my words out slowly. "You mean… I'm not a Minecrafter?"

Notch looked directly at me. "I'm afraid not."

With that last note, he sent me back, my thoughts bumbing around my head chaotically.

I wasn't a Minecrafter… My thoughts slowly became less biased. The Minecrafters condemned the Endermen to this half-life… doomed to live out their days on a hunk of rock? And the Endermen were no better, attacking villages for no reason. They killed so many, and became increasingly hostile.

Notch mentioned a choice… Did he mean Endermen or Minecrafter?

Alone with my thoughts, I returned to the real world, where everyone was still talking.

"Guys I'm back." I announced, troubled.

"What do you mean?" Sandra asked, looking puzzled.

"Wasn't I gone for like, 10 minutes?"

Jada looked at me strangely. "We just started heading home."

I realized that Notch must have done that in like, a millisecond. As impossible as the infinite bags.

As we headed home, a troubling thought came.

_This just might be the start of a war_.

**P****rotip: Cockatrices and Aechor Plants shoot poison arrows at you, which cause your player to lose control. Drink a Remedy Bucket, which you make from a Poison Bucket, to heal that.**

**(A/N: So yeah. Another chapter late. Whoopdeedoo. I'm gonna go grab a soda.)**


	6. The Pearls Power

Ender's Game

Chapter Six: The Pearls Power

We trudged through the grassy plain, the setting moon being the only source of light. A howling wind whistled through the long grass, causing the thigh-high grass to sway ominously.

This did absolutely nothing good for my nerves.

Let's see, you learn the history of two races, destined to clash in an epic war, and one of them wants blood, and is probably going to kill you on first sight. Joy.

My conflicting thoughts rocketed around my head like a hurricane, as each and every thought was more unreasonable than the last. I think at one point I accused the Minecrafters of withholding cake…

Oh well. It's not like the Endermen can craft. I'd feel almost sorry for them if they hadn't tried to _brutally murder me_.

Either way, life without cake… I shudder at the thought.

We came to the gate of the giant castle that is the Iron Metropolis, the polished stone walls gleaming like silver in the rising sun. The guard had been a little…reluctant… to let us in, until I had a "talk" with him. Let's just say he might talk an octave higher for the rest of the day, and leave it at that.

We walked through the archway into the main street, bustling with people running to and fro to attend to their everyday businesses, while small shops along the road advertised everything from dirt to diamonds.

We walked through the main street for a while, then took a left to come onto our comparatively small street, with all four of our polished and gleaming houses standing where we left them, just like we left them.

I unlocked the door (With a new tool called a "foot"), and settled myself to crafting another one while Sandra hopped onto her bed, contenting herself with shooting a couple of arrows randomly into the wall. It's her "happy place."

Ebony mewled as she noticed me, hopping down from a table and nuzzling my feet. She gave me a look that I knew all too well.

"Yeah yeah food I know." I grumbled, happy to be home. Or at least our current home.

"I'll take some bread! With carrots!" Sandra shouted from the hallway.

"Right!" I called back. _What the crap is a _carrot_?_

After rummaging in the pantry and finding a couple orange things (I deduced these were the "carrots" Sandra was talking about. Mystery solved.) I grabbed some wheat from my pack and a few pieces of pork, and started making breakfast.

Luckily, breakfast did not burn, crumble, sizzle, freeze, or slap me in the face. (Long story)

~*~* _Flashback!_ *~*~

"_Hey Lisa!" Mike yelled from across town. "Breakfast ready?"_

"_Yeah hold on!" I shouted back. Since I had no particular skill except killing, I had resigned myself to be the town cook._

_I started rummaging around the pantry, when I heard someone right behind me whisper "Now?"_

"Gah!_" I yelled in fright. "Don't _do_ that!"_

_Mike grinned sheepishly. "Sorry!" He proclaimed grandly._

"_Just let me cook this pork." I said, grabbing said pork and placing it in the furnace._

_Suddenly, the pork wiggled, grew appendages, and hopped up on its newfound legs, and slapped me right across the face with a loud "_SMACK_"._

"_No!" It yelled at me, pointing a finger at my face while I clutched my cheek, and ran off into the forest._

_Mike and I just looked at each other._

"_What the crap?"_

~*~* _Flashback End!_ *~*~

I chuckled at that thought, and whispered under my breath "Be free, little porkchop."

Bringing the steaming meat and crispy bread out, I placed all of them on the table and yelled "_Breakfast!_"

Behind me, I heard "I'm right here…"

"Oh…"

We dug in, and after a few minutes we were all contentedly full.

"Now to waste the rest of the day on random shenanigans!" I proclaimed, skipping merrily out the door, while dragging Sandra by the wrist.

We came out to the main street, looking at shops just so we couldn't buy anything, and basically having a good time. I saw Mike or Jada a few times, strolling around the marketplace. Rich I never saw, but once, I swear I walked into him.

We got some baked potatoes (Recently discovered…what else is new?) and walked around the roads, enjoying ourselves and just relaxing.

But I couldn't help think that if I had stayed up that night, none of this would have happened.

~*~*O*~*~

I woke up groggily, a faint sound making its way from the outside to my brain.

Sandra was up, dressed in her leather armor, carrying her fire bow and shaking me very quickly.

"Whassamatter?" I yawned, rolling to my feet.

She pointed, at an obvious flaming wall.

"Oh…"

I quickly put on my armor, grabbed a bucket, and put out the fire.

"City's under attack!" Sandra yelped, seeing townspeople run around in terror.

We quickly ran outside, to be greeted by a sight I wish I had never seen, that I would remember forever.

People lay dead on the street, the houses crumbled, as fire leaped through the streets, and earthquakes shook the ground with an almighty, raw power. Lightning struck randomly, as people ran around in terror, and with a heavy heart, I noticed less and less people.

"Come on!" I yelled to Sandra, as we tried to make our way through the streets, but to no avail.

Fire seemed to chase after us, cracking stone and melting wood. We were running for our lives (again) as we leapt through the tongues of heat.

We made a wrong turn, as we came to a dead end. There is _always_ a dead end. My life is a cliché.

Just before it hit us, a wave of water splashed on it, Rich in his cloak holding a bucket.

I smacked him on the head. "No clichés!"

"I just saved your life…" he muttered behind me. I ignored him.

"Come on!" he shouted over the din, pointing towards the northern wall.

After a few minutes of running through debris and jumping through collapsed buildings, we reached the northern wall, which looked like it was about to collapse. Mike and Jada were already there, along with about 300 soldiers.

"Why are we all here?" I asked.

Mike just pointed.

My breath caught in my throat.

A giant army of glistening black scales and cold claws were standing in front of us, about a thousand Endermen, all flashing their claws menacingly.

"_I cannot believe this!" _Rich yelled, breaking the silence. "_This is the second time we're going to lose our home!"_

It was like he dropped a bomb, suddenly all eye swiveled in our direction, a thousand purple irises.

And just like that, they charged.

That instant seemed to last forever, every second seeming like an hour. A bead of sweat fell in slow motion. Gross.

I saw in slow motion every guard readying his spear or sword, raising their shields in unison. I held my breath.

Rich swore under his breath.

Sandra gave a little gasp under her breath.

Mike readied his hammer.

Jada leveled her calculating gaze.

Every guard there gave a determined look, a look I didn't quite understand at the time.

Inexplicably, I felt my hand drawn to my sword sheath, where it lay there comfortingly.

I wondered if this was the last thing I would ever do.

Then suddenly, time sped up.

A charging mass was speeding towards us at insane speeds, as we charged as well.

It was chaos.

We all hacked and slashed through their ranks, but every one I killed, three more took its place. Claws raked my entire body, as blood spilled freely on the ground, both purple and red.

Black body parts lay littered on the ground, oozing purple slime, along with some human ones too.

The pain registered about thirty seconds in.

My body felt like it was on fire, as agony tore through my body. I vainly drew my lightning blade, as it tore open the sky.

An Enderman slashed my chest, blood flowing even more. I wondered if I would become a Valkyrie when I died.

I tore through an Enderman, as, sure enough, three more took its place. Maybe I was a bad person before I got here, and I would go to the Nether.

I saw Mike firing hammerhead after hammerhead, causing massive shockwaves to run through the whole field. I hoped that when I died, it would be quick.

Sandra was at the back, shooting flame arrow after flame arrow, setting wild flames through the ranks. Good ol' Sandra. She's too young to die, I lamented sadly.

Rich was on his last thunder knives, occasionally disappearing and reappearing behind an Enderman, stabbing it straight through the chest. If I died, maybe I would be assigned to Tabitha's dungeon.

Jada was fighting violently, stabbing through the ranks then instantly shrinking back and slashing all around her. Maybe I would become a Valkyrie Queen myself when I died.

And just like that, it reverberated through my body, as I heard it over and over again. _When I died… when I died… when I died…_

_No!_

Something within me rebelled, that last shred of wanting to live. Another surge of white-hot anger fueled me to life, as I glowed with anger. I realized I was literally glowing, a purple light flickering around me.

I noticed everyone staring at me, as the Endermen backed away slowly. A devilish grin passed through my face, as I slowly unzipped my purse.

I brought out a couple of the glassy orbs, feeling their warmth in my hand.

As though I were possessed, I crushed them in my hand, causing purple particles to rush all around me in a spiral.

I closed my eyes, feeling the raw power surging through me, feeling almost natural.

I opened them, my irises glowing purple.

"Boo."

And just like that, chaos reigned.

With a flick of my wrist, pitch black flames with a purple core raged, burning everything within 30 feet of me, causing a giant bonfire of Endermen.

Earthquakes shook, while black lightning hit all around me, charring all those Endermen to dust. I gave a single insane laugh in the chaos of it all. I was the master here. I was in control.

And it felt good.

I caused chaos until a minute later, when all the Endermen gave up and started teleporting. First one, then two, then every single Enderman was gone, and there was just a charred plain around me.

I turned around, to see all the survivors staring at me openly.

With a stuttering light, my purple aura vanished, leaving me battered, bruised, and still bleeding, onto the charred dirt.

I walked forward slowly, each step an agonizing pain, but I would fix that later. What mattered now was making sure everyone was okay.

I reached them and I heard Craig's voice, "Sage."

"What?" I asked, confused.

He swallowed, as though in fear of me. I raised my eyebrow. "That power… the power of the Minecraftian Sages."

I remembered what Notch had told me, powerful Minecrafters taught by Endermen…but if they were taught by Endermen…who taught me?

Distracted by my thinking, I didn't notice every soldier level his weapon.

At me.

~*~*O*~*~

I was just having a _grand_ old _lovely _time in this completely boring jail. It had been a few days since they locked me up, and I couldn't magic my way out since they took my purse.

Once or twice I tried fiddling my fingers, to summon that purple energy, but I got nothing. Zero. Nada. Squat.

It wasn't very nice, just stone walls and a stereotypical cold bench. They didn't take any chances, so they didn't provide me with a window, and there were seven iron doors you had to go through before you got to me.

Gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling, you know? I'm so loved…

They had a dispenser like 20 blocks high to shoot food down. A couple of times, I got nailed in the head by a loaf of bread or watermelon.

Other than the routine food depositing, I was bored out of my mind. They thoughtfully provided a lavatory, but it was really nothing more than a hole in the ground with water running through it. Yeah. Thoughtful.

I managed to keep myself amused by randomly creating purple glowing crafting tables all around the room, so my cell now looked like a huge laser cage. Oh, and it was purple. Did I mention that?

So yeah, I was going just the _slightest_ bit crazy. On the other hand, who in our team of five _wasn't _crazy? Sure wasn't me, that's for sure.

I was beginning to lose hope about ever getting out of here, when I heard a _click. _Then a _click._ Then another _click._ Then another another _click…_

I heard seven clicks in total before my iron door opened, to reveal a grinning Rich, part of him invisible, under the cloak I suspected. sarcasm But he's _definitely_ got another way of turning invisible, I'm _sure._ /sarcasm

"Thought you'd need some help." He exclaims cheekily.

He earned a slap to the face.

"Ow! Again!" he whines. I grin and just shoot back "Just get out of my way."

We start our way through the hallway of the prison, seeing a couple smoking craters and knocked out guards.

"So you're _not_ freaked out about the whole purple glowy stuff?" I question him.

"Not at all." He answers. "I'm terrified. But you are our friend, so we might as well bust you out of prison."

Smirking evilly to myself inside, I jumped in front of him and yelled "Boo!"

He squeaked like a little girl and jumped up a firepole, and stayed there while I nearly busted my lungs laughing.

"Not funny…" he mumbled.

~*~*O*~*~

We met up outside the Iron Metropolis, under the shade of a small tree.

"Who was the idiot who decided we would be 'safe' here…" I heard Jada murmur, since we stuck out like a sore thumb. It didn't help it was the _only flipping tree in the whole plain_.

I shouldered my purse, thankful to feel its weight again. Rich had managed to"borrow" my purse, and I checked, relieved it still had everything in it. Even a couple of Enderpearls.

"So…" I wondered aloud. "Does anyone actually _know_ how I use this magicky nonsense?"

"Search me." Mike spread his arms wide, showing me his impressive array of cloth. Indeed, I was amazed at the simple blue of his shirt. _Not._

Perhaps I should stop being so sarcastic…

In any case, I brought out an Enderpearl, examining its glassy structure. Ebony peered sleepily at me, from my purse. I just recently realized that she fit inside, and luckily didn't shrink to the side of a toenail. That would have been bad. Imagine, first mass murdering of Endermen, now shrinking cats, who knows what I might do next?

I vaguely remembered crushing it in my hand, and I did so. Almost like a potion, purple particles came all around it and swirled everywhere, slowly dying down until I was normal. I checked around, but I didn't see any paranormal glowing. Not even freaky purple eyes. Shame, really.

"Well that didn't work…" I said unnecessarily.

"Maybe you should think about what you want?" Rich suggests.

_Lalalala, thinking thinking thinking. Let's see… oh I've got it!_ I thought to myself.

Instantly, a cake appeared in front of me.

"Cool!" Mike yells, about to dig in, when it bursts into purple flame.

"Okay…maybe I _can't _make food." I mutter sheepishly as Mike bawls over the lost cake.

Mike sticks his tongue out childishly, before prancing around the plain like a demented chicken. Like I said, _no one _here is sane. Even I acknowledge my own completely insane-ness. It's not a word, but I don't particularly care at this point.

"Alright." Jada laughed. "We're all morons. Now let's move along before we're _dead_ morons, hmm?"

~*~*O*~*~

We travelled for about an hour before coming to the border between the plain and the mountains, separated by a single river. We decided to set up camp there, since the water meant we could stop taking fire resistance potions and washing ourselves in lava. I'm serious, now.

We made five tents out of hastily placed blocks and fences, and completed it by making a fireplace with one forgotten netherrack piece as fuel. Sitting down at the fire together, it reminded me of when we were still at our old camp, when everything seemed okay.

Relaxing on my chair, I leaned back and watched the stars.

It didn't last long.

After a few minutes of tranquil peace, a warbling broke out. Everywhere. No matter where we turned, it seemed they were _all around us_.

I slowly backed up, drawing my lightning sword as Mike cursed to himself. "We've grown lazy… I forgot about the mobs…"

Hard to forget about nightly terrors that set out to kill you, but hey, when you're offered a monster-free lifestyle, sometimes you just want to forget.

Then, the attacks started. Like the army that destroyed our camp, waves of monsters appeared out of seemingly nowhere, legions of zombies, hordes of skeletons, and armies of creepy spiders.

"Mike?" I whispered urgently. "Hammer?"

Mike laughed, a demonic glint coming into his eyes as his hand drifted to his Hammer of Notch. "Well if you wanted destruction…" He hefted the huge hammer, swishing it through the air like a knife. "You should have just asked."

He flew into a ready stance, then instantly shot at least 50 hammerheads all around us, blowing apart the army in one giant sonic blast. Rich fingered his knives as Sandra expertly strung her Phoenix Bow, nocking an arrow swiftly.

I brang out my trusty iron sword, seeing the glint in the full moon. A smirk crossed onto my face, as I saw Jada lifting her own flaming blade, the fire dancing across the hot metal.

Then we struck.

It was even more carnage than the Endermen, because it was one sided. We defeated groups of mobs in seconds, as we completely decimated the so-called"army". I dashed through their ranks like a whirlwind, bring my sword around in deadly swings and slashes, as hacked-off body parts littered the ground.

Once or twice one of them got us, but Sandra, staying behind the lines, sniped the monsters right off us, missing ourselves by just a _hair_.

I grinned, as I saw Jada stab her sword into the last monster. Flaming carnage surrounded her, as burned appendages sizzled on the ground.

_Warble _

Then, I remembered the Endermen, just in time, as a ebony claw came right at me. I deftly brang up my sword to block, but it just glanced off as the claw slashed through my ribcage. So much for "Master Swordswoman."

They swarmed us, coming only for me, as I quickly put my iron sword back in my pack and brought out the Enderpearls. Rich quickly noticed this and yelled to the others "Run!"

I crushed the small orbs in my fist, feeling the energy course through me as I manifested pure fire and energy all around me. The Endermen were wary, but came at me even harder. A couple, I saw, were even wielding magic of their own.

_It all comes down to this._ I thought grimly. _A battle of superhuman abilities._

Lightning danced through my fingers as I slashed them through the air, causing bolts of lightning to rush through the air in a static symphony of power. The Enderman I was fighting counterattacked with a bolt of blue…stuff… which I avoided.

It was a difficult fight, and the air felt like it was splitting apart by the sheer force of power. It almost boiled, heating up like a fire.

I defeated the Enderman, but then five Endermen were surrounding me, claws out and jaws unhooked. I rummaged in my bag but found no Enderpearls this time.

"Crap…" I muttered.

A single Enderman came forward, and without warning put its claw on my forhead.

Then everything went dark, as I was spiraling down a black tunnel…

~*~*O*~*~

I appeared in what seemed to be an island, made of white rock, almost luminous in the starless sky. Giant pillars of mighty obsidian reached to the sky, strange crystals bouncing on top of them.

_The End._

A couple of Endermen came towards me, but I drew my lightning sword warily. I just prayed lightning worked in the End.

"Down, child." I looked around, hoping for another human, but no luck.

I heard some laughter, warbling laughter.

"Do not be afraid."

I knew which direction it was coming from, but I was afraid of the answer. Against my will, I turned around to face an Enderman wearing red shoulderpads.

"Yes…It is me." The Enderman spoke to me. Its voice wasn't like what I would have imagined. It was soft-spoken, obviously intelligent, as his purple eyes studied my muddy jacket and torn pants.

What scared me is how I could understand them. Not a Minecrafter, having an ancient power, and now understanding my mortal enemies. Peachy.

"You have failed us."

I growled slightly. "Failed you what? I'm not your slave."

He gave a gesture I assumed as raising his eyebrow. "Indeed? Perhaps you have forgotten…"

"Sey'Akah!" He turns and calls. An Enderman wielding a staff with an Enderpearl came up to us.

He nods slightly, as he brings up his staff, to use magic on me, I presumed.

He didn't. With powerful force, he smashes me on the head with the staff, shattering the Enderpearl.

"Ow!" I yell, in spite of myself. "What the crap?"

"Indeed, 'what the crap' child." He sounded almost amused.

Then, pain struck my forehead. Overwhelming pain, even more than how much it hurt when he struck me on the forehead.

It all came back to me in a flurry of memories.

I blacked out.

~*~*O*~*~

_A girl._

_Indeed?_

_She has come here, not of free will, but as of Destiny, and how she commands it._

_Does she pose a threat to us, brother?_

_Perhaps not. Perhaps so. It is her decision, in the gamble of Fate._

_Who could say? She could be a valuable asset._

_A girl._

_A girl, indeed._

_Brought here by Destiny._

_A piece of a puzzle recovered._

_It is simply a game to her._

_A game? How could she think that?_

_Perhaps there is more to her than you think, Herobrine._

_Indeed…_

_Hush! She listens. Her Aura grows stronger each day._

_It is of simple irony, where the End is where it all began…_

_She has remembered._

_She has forgot._

_Lisa, it is your choice, and yours alone._

_We bid you farewell…_

Protip: Don't look at Endermen directly. They will chase you, and they are pretty dang powerful.

Extra Protip: Pork doesn't really slap you. I think…

**(A/N: Well, yet again another extremely late chapter. Oh well. I only have like six fans, right? Ahahahaha…no. I'm beginning to sound like Lisa. Anyways, thanks for reading! Remember, reviews are incentive to write faster! And you can expect a lot more writing. NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow!)**


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